This is a celebratory book on the works of Niki de Saint Phalle, an artist who lived between 1930 and 2002. Through her work she explored female roles in society and myth, basing many of her disquieting and joyful depictions on personal experience. Chronologically arranged, it takes readers from the visceral and controversial "shooting painting" and her playfully voluptuous "nanas" to the impressive installatins and wonderfully elaborate sculpture gardens such as the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, the Sun God in San Diego and the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris. The artist"own comments and sketches are interspersed throughout the book, providing an integral framework for understanding and appreciating her unusual talent. is made distinctly personal by her handwritten comments and whimsical sketches.