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Audiobooks > Biography & Autobiography >  Literary > Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties
Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties Audiobook, by Marion Meade Play Audiobook Sample

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3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5 (3.00) - 605 customer ratings
Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties Audiobook, by Marion Meade Play Audiobook Sample
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Author: Marion Meade Narrator: Lorna Raver Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Audio Length: Release Date: June 2005 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Delivery: Instant Download ISBN: 9781481599764
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Publisher Description

This is an exuberant group portrait of four extraordinary writers—Zelda Fitzgerald, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dorothy Parker, and Edna Ferber—whose loves, lives, and literary endeavors captured the spirit of the 1920s.

Marion Meade re-creates the aura of excitement, romance, and promise of the 1920s, when these literary heroines did what they wanted, said what they thought, and kicked open the door for twentieth-century women, setting a new model for every woman trying to juggle the serious issues of economic independence, political power, and sexual freedom. But Meade also brings to light the anxiety and despair that lurked beneath the nonstop partying and outrageous behavior. She describes the men who influenced them, loved them, and sometimes betrayed them. And while she describes their social and literary triumphs, she also writes movingly of the penances they paid. A vibrant mixture of literary scholarship, social history, and scandal, Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin is a rich evocation of an era that will forever intrigue and captivate us.

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Quotes

  • “This book is gossip taken to the highest, cosmic level, a social movement explained in terms of trivial detail that makes everything ‘real.’”

    - Washington Post

  • “Reading Meade’s book is like looking at a photo album while listening to a witty insider reminisce about the images. Her writing is bright, her language charged with gritty details…Instead of portraying them as austere literary figures, Meade makes the women seem like part of the family.”

    - San Francisco Chronicle   

  • “An extraordinarily intriguing production, beautifully read by Lorna Raver…Raver’s sensitivity and insight into four very different artistic women broadens our knowledge and understanding of them.”

    - AudioFile

  • “Edged with flapper flair, Raver’s husky tones and delicately turned intonations are a strong match for Meade’s biographies.”

    - Booklist 

Awards

  • Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award
  • A Booklist Editors’ Choice, May 2005

Customer Reviews

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  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " Loved! If you liked Zelda (Zelda Fitzgerald's bio), you'll love this. I found these ladies utterly relatable and the book reads more like a novel than a biography. Of course, as is my usual criticism, I would have loved to see more pictures. "

    - Gloria, 2/11/2014
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " It's like reading Entertainment Weekly in the 1920s-- brain candy mixed with literature and history. Yum! "

    - Treasure, 1/26/2014
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " Very entertaining look at the female writers of the twenties -- especially Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edna Ferber, and Zelda Fitzgerald. Written in a clear and lively style with lots of dish and (especially in the sections about Parker) some laugh-out-loud material. Makes an interesting case for the reason the Roaring Twenties produced such a prominent cast of female writers. "

    - Timothy, 1/24/2014
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " One of my all-time favorite books about Bohemian life in the early 20th century. I read this my Freshman year of college, and I think it partially informed my choice of becoming an art major. "

    - ~Geektastic~, 1/20/2014
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " Another great from Marion Meade. I couldn't keep my nose out of Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase and now I have eaten up this bio of 4 women writers in the Roaring 20's. Vincent was my favorite by far ;) These women were scandolous even by todays standards!! Completely reccomended~! "

    - Natalie, 1/19/2014
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " I went back and forth on my feelings about this book, frankly. The information about the four women authors (Zelda Fitzgerald, Edna Ferber, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Dorothy Parker), was interesting indeed, but the choppy pace of the book made it difficult to keep things straight. The book is organized by year through the decade of the 1920s and finishes with the year 1930, and follows the lives of these four authors through the times. I learned a lot I didn't know about the writers' private lives, and Meade presented a great deal of information gained from excellent research. However, I'd suggest that the reader know something about these women before reading the book, as the author assumes a great deal of understanding by the reader. "

    - Ellen, 1/17/2014
  • Overall Performance: 2 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 5

    " Not a bad read, I just lost steam about midway through. "

    - Jason, 1/16/2014
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " This is a kind of sensational story of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edna Ferber (how I wound up with it and I thought she got totally shafted), Dorothy Parker, and Zelda Fitzgerald. It is all the gossip/wild tales/drinking of the ladies of the 20s in NYC. "

    - Eliza, 1/15/2014
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " Great overview of these women's lives in the '20s. Entertaining and (hopefully) factual. "

    - Allison, 1/10/2014
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " I really enjoyed reading about these women writers. Dorothy's depression, Edna St. Vincent's ego, Zelda's journal writings used uncredited by her husband and swept under the rug... "

    - Jocelyn, 12/19/2013
  • Overall Performance: 2 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 5

    " Ok, it's really between a 2 and a 3... the writing is dull, and were I not fascinated by the time period it's unlikely I would have made it through the book. "

    - Lumindanu, 11/28/2013
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " Four famous flappers living large in New York between World Wars. "

    - Dana, 10/13/2013
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " Dorothy Parker, Edna Ferber, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Zelda Fitzgerald. I am not a reader 'of ;nonfiction, but this book was a pleasure to read. Dorothy Parker and "Vincent's" personalities shone. I have added all these ladies to my summer reading list. "

    - Mrs., 1/8/2013
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " A light, intertwined dance over a decade in the lives of several artistic women in the 1920s. "

    - Melissa, 1/27/2012
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " Very interesting book. Can be slow at times, but super cool to get some back story on infamous writers. "

    - Noe, 12/22/2011
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " I LOVED this book about the lives of 4 female American writers throughout the 1920s (mainly in New York) - Dorothy Parker, Zelda Fitzgerald, Edna Ferber, and Edna St. Vincent Mallay. I gobbled it up and regretted when it came to an end. I wanted it to keep on going. "

    - Martin, 12/9/2011
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " Dear god it's amazing they were able to accomplish anything considering all the booze, drugs, and sex that went on. "

    - Colleen, 4/18/2010
  • Overall Performance: 2 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 5

    " So very dry! Sucks all the fun out of the Jazz Age. The writers I imagined having spunk and sass in their step were actually just a bunch of self obsessed, pretentious old hags concerned with status and gossip. Oh well, I'll always have Clara Bow. "

    - Inez, 8/17/2009
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " I just love reading about different creative tribes that spring up every generation or so: the bloomsbury group, the algonquin round table, the shelley's and Lord Byron, etc... "

    - Kirsten, 7/30/2009
  • Overall Performance: 1 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 5

    " A disappointingly dry and dull account of the lives of the Fitzgeralds, Dorothy Parker, et. al. Perhaps this author should have let her writing run a little wild. . . . "

    - Lisa, 9/10/2008
  • Overall Performance: 2 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 52 out of 5

    " Occasionally the author decides that she needs to take the tone of the witty gossip but it just came across as annoying and flippant. "

    - Stacie, 3/24/2007
  • Overall Performance: 1 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 5

    " I actually never finished this book because I couldn't deal with the way dorothy parker was referred to as "dottie"... "

    - mr., 11/12/2005

About the Author

Marion Meade is the author of Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This? She has also written biographies of Woody Allen, Buster Keaton, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Madame Blavatsky, and Victoria Woodhull, as well as two novels about medieval France. She lives in New York City.

About the Narrator

Lorna Raver, named one of AudioFile magazine’s Best Voices of the Year, has received numerous Audie Award nominations and many AudioFile Earphones Awards. She has appeared on stage in New York, Los Angeles, and regional theaters around the country. Among her many television credits are NYPD Blue, Judging Amy, Boston Legal, ER, and Star Trek. She starred in director Sam Raimi’s film Drag Me to Hell.