Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and Workers, Rallied Against War and for the Planet, and Shook Up Politics Along the Way

Aside from the longest subtitle ever, this “oral history” from two old friends and colleagues of Bella Abzug isn’t your typical biography. Instead, they’ve put together Abzug’s own words about her life and ideals with reminiscences from interviews with her friends—and a few quotes from folks who didn’t feel so kindly toward her, like the late Norman Mailer—to flesh out a chronology of her life and career. Don’t expect to see a “warts-and-all” portrait—this is closer to memoir than serious biography. But the book captures well the style and verve of one of the great personalities of feminism’s “Second Wave.” And frankly, we could use a few mouthy, opinionated broads with their hats in politics these days.