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The Supermarket Sweep Schizophrenic

At some point in grocery shopping history, a creepy 55-year-old man proudly sporting a ponytail, orange bowling shirt and Crocs, talking loudly on his Bluetooth headpiece, has sadly misplaced his shopping list. Fortunately, Hillary Carlip was there to snag that enlightened artifact and exploit its hidden goodness. The “Queen of the Oddballs” made collecting lost shopping lists from such characters a hobby for her new book À La Cart. Carlip carefully hand-selected 26 grocery lists and fantasized the embodiment of whom they could possibly belong to. After intense thought, she humorously transformed herself, taking on 26 different detailed personas — offering an intimate peek into a complete stranger’s life. Some notable characters include a backwoods, Fu Manchu-mustached male, a has-been lesbian rockstar, a gothic 20-year-old boy and an elderly stand-up comedian. Each personality is photographed in their natural neighborhood market habitat. Intrigued yet? On Tuesday, April 29 at 7 p.m., Carlip will be at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe to sign copies of her new book. From a woman who can boast juggling in the 1980 movie version of Xanadu, winning on The Gong Show and teaching Ellen DeGeneres how to eat fire, one could only jump at the chance to stand within her aura of genius.

www.changinghandsbookstore.com

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