Scantily Clad Truths – Essays on Life with Clothes (and without)

Scantily Clad Truths
110 Pages
Cautious Optimist Publishing
ISBN 978-0-9993763-2-4

In this collection of humorous essays, award-winning author Leslie C. Halpern provides true stories from her strange and unusual personal life and three decades of working as an entertainment journalist for The Hollywood Reporter, Markee Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, and other publications. The book features 15 essays exploring various subjects, including a Hall of Shame college roommate, a perverted (but literary) peeping Tom, a walk down the red carpet with the stars, an awkward interview with director Francis Ford Coppola, and an encounter with a sexy homeless man.

Despite the diverse range of subjects, each story contains a common thread: clothes. Instead of the naked truth, the author believes that clothes offer more of a scantily clad version of reality – a seductive, though manipulated, outer covering that simultaneously and selectively reveals and conceals. In each of the essays, clothing – or a lack of it – leads to an unexpected conclusion by the author.

“It will all come out in the wash” isn’t the case with Scantily Clad Truths, where deeply stained souls may never come clean – even with a detergent booster. From panty lines to punch lines, these and other truths are revealed in humorous personal essays that provide the occasional, though well-deserved, dressing down.

Leslie C. Halpern

About Leslie C. Halpern (Orlando, Florida Author)

Leslie C. Halpern

Leslie C. Halpern is an award-winning poet, author, essayist, and entertainment journalist with more than 4,000 published articles and ten published books. Her most recent book release is a collection of humorous personal essays titled, "Scantily Clad Truths" (2018). Her other nonfiction books for adults include "200 Love Lessons from the Movies," "Reel Romance: The Lovers' Guide to the 100 Best Date Movies," and "Dreams on Film."

Her most recent children's book, "Silly Sleepytime Poems," was released in 2017. Her poetry for adults and children has been published in numerous books and anthologies, including "Confluence: The Journal of Graduate Liberal Studies," "Other Orlandos," "Encore: Prize Poems 2018," "A Poet's Haggadah," and "Love and Other Passions."

Leslie earned a Master’s Degree in Liberal Studies from Rollins College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Kentucky. She’s a member of Orlando Area Poets, Poetry Ensemble of Orlando, Florida State Poets Association, Florida Writers Association, and Cassell Network of Writers. Visit her website: www.lesliehalpern.com.