In Laws of the Bandit Queens, photographer Ali Smith presents the images and life philosophies of some of today's most dynamic and revolutionary women, from Janeane Garofalo to Susan Faludi to Venus and Serena Williams to Jocelyn Elders. In the book's inviting portraits these women become accessible to women of every age who can go where they have led -- or imagine possible futures of their own.Each woman is portrayed in Smith's completely original, gritty style, and her description of the subject's character and influence accompanies each portrait. Each woman has also contributed a law of life she tries to live by. Garofalo's, for instance, is Eleanor Roosevelt's insight that "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Laws of the Bandit Queens also profiles Sandra Bernhard, Maggie Estep, Sheryl Swoopes, Geraldine Ferraro, Alice Walker, and 30 others.