Constable: Ronda Rousey can break your arm, or sign her book in Naperville

First-time author Ronda Rousey could beat up every other author who has ever appeared at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville. Rousey could land a thousand blows on Pulitzer Prize-winner Jane Smiley, draw blood from Anne Rice, put Stephenie Meyer in a permanent twilight and make J.K. Rowling cry "Voldemort."

Rousey, the mixed martial arts fighter who lived for a while in the Northwest suburbs and trained in Mundelein, graced the May 18 cover of Sports Illustrated as the "World's Most Dominant Athlete." The 28-year-old undefeated UFC champion and her brutal "armbar" move deliver pain and total submission to opponents, whether they maintain consciousness or not. Her last opponent cried "uncle" after only 14 seconds.

But the 135-pound bruiser also graced the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, wore a bikini on the cover of Maxim, beat an ex-boyfriend to the punch in releasing nude photographs of her, and acted in "The Expendables 3," "Fast and Furious 7" and the soon-to-be released "Entourage." She charmed Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" and then gently demonstrated her move that bends an opponent's arm to the breaking point.

In her new autobiography, "My Fight/Your Fight," the woman nicknamed "Rowdy" talks about being the shy little girl in speech therapy who wouldn't talk in school, the vulnerable 8-year-old grieving the death of her father, the confused young woman grappling with body issues and an eating disorder, and the Olympic medalist who needed to find a new sport.

"There were some days I was the victim. There were some days I was the (jerk)," explains Rousey, who is much more uninhibited with her vocabulary choices than a columnist in a family newspaper. "Life isn't PG-rated. There is no sanitized version of my life."

Not knowing which Ronda Rousey might show up at her book-signing simply increases the interest in her.

"It's human nature to want to find out more," Rousey says. "I was shocked at how wide of an audience takes interest in what I'm doing."

Anderson's Bookshop, a Naperville institution since 1964, has hosted hundreds of book signings featuring Pulitzer Prize-winners, movie stars, athletes and celebrities. At the same time Rousey hits the Naperville store, Anderson's is sponsoring an appearance by actor and author Nick Offerman in Minooka, southwest of Joliet.

"There are some people you wouldn't equate with books," says Ginny Wehrli-Hemmeter, an event coordinator for Anderson's. Authors more famous for something other than their prose can attract people who've never set foot inside a bookstore.

"You always get the folks who just want to look at them," says Wehrli-Hemmeter, adding that people who want to see Rousey at 7 p.m. Wednesday need to register and buy the book at andersonsbookshop.com. "She is here to sign her book, and that is the only thing she will sign."

Rousey, who co-wrote the book with her sister Maria Burns Ortiz, asked me not to identify the Northwest suburb where she lived for a bit during a relationship, so I will as a courtesy and not because I'm afraid that she might snap off my note-taking arm. She competed in two Olympics and became the first American to medal in judo, coming home from the 2008 Games in Beijing with a bronze. And she still gets mad about not winning the gold.

But she can be witty, funny and flirty. When it was suggested that she could defeat Floyd Mayweather, the champion boxer also infamous for his bouts of domestic violence, Rousey said on Access Hollywood: "I don't think me and him would ever fight - unless we ended up dating."

The stark violence of her rage-filled bouts in the ring isn't the only attribute that wins her fans.

"There are plenty of people who come up to me and say they don't even like MMA fighting," says Rousey, noting that fans at her book signings include grandmas, little girls, groups of guys out for a night on the town, groups of women out for a night on the town and "every single kind of person for every single kind of reason."

She says she's been touched by shy teenagers who hand her notes.

"I'm really proud of myself that I was able to come out of that," Rousey says of the years when she struggled to communicate. "This is all the result of my labor, not of luck."

During her struggles, "I would tell myself that it was just a difficult part of the book," says Rousey, who always envisioned her life as a book.

"That was my actual pep talk to myself."

Once told that there never would be a woman fighter in the UFC, Rousey enjoys breaking stereotypes.

"I have a lot of people doubting me now on the acting side of my career," she says. "I'd like to prove them wrong."

But first, there's this unstoppable desire to beat every woman who dares challenge her. Her fighting career will last as long her body can endure the physical toll.

"If I continue having 14-second fights," Rousey says, "that's a lot of fights."