Walk on the Wild Side

Perhaps you’re thinking that two books by and about Dennis Rodman are at least one book too many. Nevertheless, Walk on the Wild Side, the sequel to the bestselling Bad as I Wanna Be, continues Rodman’s story, interspersed with his singular views on everything from sex to drugs to rock-and-roll. Certainly Rodman is outrageous, but this book reveals his admirable willingness to stick to his guns; he abhors bigotry in any form, eschews illegal drugs, and defends his right–and presumably the rights of others–to express his individuality as he sees fit. If Rodman’s intentions are honorable, his execution is often immature in the extreme–head-butting referees in defense of his independence is hardly admirable behavior. Still, Rodman’s appeal goes deeper than his bad-boy image or his tie-dyed hair. There is something oddly sweet about Dennis Rodman’s naïve faith in the redemptive powers of sex, in the individual’s ability to constantly remake him or herself in a better image, and in the basic American virtues of hard work, self-reliance and patriotism–however strangely he might choose to express them. Even those readers willing to consider Rodman’s particular view of the world might be put off by the act of reading Walk on the Wild Side. Sentences in boldface, words and phrases that are capitalized or highlighted in black, and paragraphs presented in a different typeface–all for no apparent reason–leap from every page, merely print pyrotechnics that distract from Rodman’s message. But maybe those fans who can get past Dennis Rodman’s outrageous persona also will be able to overlook his book’s layout.