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Lorelei Lee #1
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The beautiful Lorelei Lee leaves her hometown of Little Rock and takes Europe by storm. Hiding behind a veil of naivete, Lorelei coos, coaxes, and rearranges the pawns of high society until everything works out for the best ( she marries a millionaire of good moral standing). Along the way, Anita Loos ridicules flapper culture, censorship, the US government, the film industry, racism, chauvinism, consumerism, psychoanalysis and Hollywood. And the book is still laugh-out-loud funny.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published November 15, 1925
633 people are currently reading
13397 people want to read
About the author
Anita Loos
64 books119 followersPeople best know American writer Anita Loos for her novels, especially
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
(1925), which she later adapted for film; her many screenplays include
The Girl from Missouri
(1934).
She authored plays and her blockbuster comic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Loos
She authored plays and her blockbuster comic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Loos
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,123 reviews
March 5, 2014
March 5th
Today I went to a place called Goodreads, it is a kind of litrary salo which is useful for a girl that wants to improve her mind like I do. So I wondered how I would be a social success there it is quite different from New York but luckily I met a gentleman called Mr. Paul Bryant who took an interest in me and wanted to help me improve my mind. Mr. Bryant said it is very very easy you just post a review that is a bit riskay and has an artistic picture at the top. I said I did not know how to do artistic pictures but Mr. Bryant said you just borrow one from another review like from Miss Lisa Jayne who is very very popular. I said isnt that stealing but Mr. Bryant said no it is an act of ommadge and she will be delighted.
Then I said what do I write under the picture and he said you just be yourself and you will see the votes come rolling in, like I said it is very very easy. So I copied out what I wrote in my diary for today and Mr. Bryant gave it to his friend Dr. Rayner to post and they said I would be an Internet celebrity before I knew it. I said that was very very interesting but was there a place on the Internet where they could buy me an emerald bracelet since a girl doesn't want to waste her time. But Mr. Bryant said that unfortunately he was to busy today to go shopping.
I like the Internet very very much but I think I will go back to New York because the gentlemen there know how to treat a lady.
August 27, 2018
”So when I got through telling Dorothy what I thought up. Dorothy looked at me and looked at me and she really thought my brains were a miracle. I mean she said my brains reminded her of a radio because you listen to it for days and days and you get discouraged and just when you are getting ready to smash it, something comes out that is a masterpiece.”
Beauty can be born just about anywhere. It can appear in blue stocking families, or come from hard working blue collar families, or it can even occur in a trailer trash family from Little Rock, Arkansas. Genetics are puzzling and unpredictable, sometimes giving unattractive kids to attractive parents or cherubs to parents who are mystified how symmetrical features ever found their way into their family tree. Lorelei Lee from Little Rock is one of those mysteries of nature. She is pretty, but not just pretty, she is a vava voom beauty.
And as Dorothy says in the quote at the beginning of this review, Lorelei Lee has an unusual mind, a brain that on the surface seems as vibrant as a bag of hammers, but as I read her diary, the more I start to understand that she has a single minded purpose. People who are able to focus all their brain power on one desire become very cunning in the narrow focus of achieving their goal.
Dorothy, played so well by Jane Russell in the movie, is attracted to a different sort of man than Lorelei.
When I was going to college, I experienced frequent bouts of poverty, not Grapes of Wrath poverty, but I certainly had many moments where all the money I had in the world was jingling in my pocket...and not very loudly. I decided that I was going to do what I could to never be poor again. I didn’t have my Scarlett moment: ”As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again.” I decided to go with more of a solemn oath to myself and left God out of it. He, after all, left me a world of plenty. It was my job to figure out how to get my fair share. Lorelei takes a different path to security than I did.
Lorelei Lee is mercenary in the ways of love. She doesn’t see the sense in her friend Dorothy hanging out with tennis champions ”or going around with gentlemen who do not have anything.” After all, isn’t it as easy to love a man with money as it is to love a man with none? ”...because kissing your hand may make you feel very very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever.”
This is expanded upon in the movie in the song written by Gordon Martin that Marilyn Monroe sings. ”A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, / But diamonds are a girl's best friend. / A kiss may be grand, but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat. / Or help you at the automat. / Men grow cold as girls grow old, and we all lose our charm in the end. / But square-cut or pear-shaped, these rocks won't lost their shape. / Diamonds are a girl's best friend.”
I bring up Marilyn Monroe because it is impossible to read this book without hearing her sultry, soft voice in my ear. Anita Loos, the author of this book, also worked on the screenplay for the movie by the same name. While researching this book, I learned just enough about Loos to realize that I need to discover more about her. She was a jack of all trades and successful at all of them. She wrote books, screenplays, and even acted in films. Recently, I watched San Francisco (1936) starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald without ever really putting together the fact that Anita Loos wrote the screenplay. When she finished writing this book, she took it to her friends and acquaintances who laughed, but at the same time felt the book was too scandalous, after all she was making fun of sex. They suggested that she serialize the book in Harper’s Bazaar, where it would be lost among the ads.
Subscriptions to HB tripled.
When the story was published in book form the first edition sold out in two weeks.
Reporters liked Anita Loos because she was always good for an off color quote. In this case, she shared some wisdom regarding women’s lib. ”They keep getting up on soap boxes and proclaiming that women are brighter than men. That’s true, but it should be kept very quiet or it ruins the whole racket.”
Lorelei Lee, at the suggestion of one of her rich male friends, is sent to Europe on a tour to improve her mind... on his dime of course. This doesn’t keep her from weighing the men of Europe to see if any of them are a better catch than the one she has. If you have seen the movie, then you are familiar with Piggie. He shows up in the book but is woefully in need of some training. ”Because I always think that spending money is only just a habit and if you get a gentleman started on buying one dozen orchids at a time he really gets very good habits.” The matter of a diamond tiara gets Piggie in all kinds of trouble. I don’t think he has ever had so much fun getting in hot water in his whole life.
Illustration of Piggie by Ffolkes from the Folio Edition
By chance, the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) came on the other night. I put it on intending to watch just a few scenes, but ended up watching the entire movie again. It is that kind of movie. This time I payed close attention to Marilyn Monroe (as if anyone can take their eyes of her when she is on screen) because I’d been spending time with the literary Lorelei Lee. Monroe’s performance is really extraordinary. What she does may look easy, but the ease with which she portrays the role, like a second skin, is really impressive. In my opinion, she should have at least received an Oscar nod. Jane Russell does a wonderful job playing the second best looking girl in the room. If you haven’t seen the movie, please put it on your list. It is truly a marvel to behold.
Anita Loos, beautiful and smart, and very not blonde.
I laughed many times while reading this book. The humor pounces unexpectedly. Lorelei will say something that sounds perfectly normal; but then, when your brain has a chance to break down what she said into parts, you start to realize that she snuck a Lorelei-ism that shouldn’t make sense.
”And so I really think that I can say good-bye to my diary feeling that, after all, everything always turns out for the best.”
I never doubted that Lorelei would get what she wanted. She says it best: “I can be smart when it is important.”
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Beauty can be born just about anywhere. It can appear in blue stocking families, or come from hard working blue collar families, or it can even occur in a trailer trash family from Little Rock, Arkansas. Genetics are puzzling and unpredictable, sometimes giving unattractive kids to attractive parents or cherubs to parents who are mystified how symmetrical features ever found their way into their family tree. Lorelei Lee from Little Rock is one of those mysteries of nature. She is pretty, but not just pretty, she is a vava voom beauty.
And as Dorothy says in the quote at the beginning of this review, Lorelei Lee has an unusual mind, a brain that on the surface seems as vibrant as a bag of hammers, but as I read her diary, the more I start to understand that she has a single minded purpose. People who are able to focus all their brain power on one desire become very cunning in the narrow focus of achieving their goal.
Dorothy, played so well by Jane Russell in the movie, is attracted to a different sort of man than Lorelei.
When I was going to college, I experienced frequent bouts of poverty, not Grapes of Wrath poverty, but I certainly had many moments where all the money I had in the world was jingling in my pocket...and not very loudly. I decided that I was going to do what I could to never be poor again. I didn’t have my Scarlett moment: ”As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again.” I decided to go with more of a solemn oath to myself and left God out of it. He, after all, left me a world of plenty. It was my job to figure out how to get my fair share. Lorelei takes a different path to security than I did.
Lorelei Lee is mercenary in the ways of love. She doesn’t see the sense in her friend Dorothy hanging out with tennis champions ”or going around with gentlemen who do not have anything.” After all, isn’t it as easy to love a man with money as it is to love a man with none? ”...because kissing your hand may make you feel very very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever.”
This is expanded upon in the movie in the song written by Gordon Martin that Marilyn Monroe sings. ”A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, / But diamonds are a girl's best friend. / A kiss may be grand, but it won't pay the rental on your humble flat. / Or help you at the automat. / Men grow cold as girls grow old, and we all lose our charm in the end. / But square-cut or pear-shaped, these rocks won't lost their shape. / Diamonds are a girl's best friend.”
I bring up Marilyn Monroe because it is impossible to read this book without hearing her sultry, soft voice in my ear. Anita Loos, the author of this book, also worked on the screenplay for the movie by the same name. While researching this book, I learned just enough about Loos to realize that I need to discover more about her. She was a jack of all trades and successful at all of them. She wrote books, screenplays, and even acted in films. Recently, I watched San Francisco (1936) starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald without ever really putting together the fact that Anita Loos wrote the screenplay. When she finished writing this book, she took it to her friends and acquaintances who laughed, but at the same time felt the book was too scandalous, after all she was making fun of sex. They suggested that she serialize the book in Harper’s Bazaar, where it would be lost among the ads.
Subscriptions to HB tripled.
When the story was published in book form the first edition sold out in two weeks.
Reporters liked Anita Loos because she was always good for an off color quote. In this case, she shared some wisdom regarding women’s lib. ”They keep getting up on soap boxes and proclaiming that women are brighter than men. That’s true, but it should be kept very quiet or it ruins the whole racket.”
Lorelei Lee, at the suggestion of one of her rich male friends, is sent to Europe on a tour to improve her mind... on his dime of course. This doesn’t keep her from weighing the men of Europe to see if any of them are a better catch than the one she has. If you have seen the movie, then you are familiar with Piggie. He shows up in the book but is woefully in need of some training. ”Because I always think that spending money is only just a habit and if you get a gentleman started on buying one dozen orchids at a time he really gets very good habits.” The matter of a diamond tiara gets Piggie in all kinds of trouble. I don’t think he has ever had so much fun getting in hot water in his whole life.
Illustration of Piggie by Ffolkes from the Folio Edition
By chance, the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) came on the other night. I put it on intending to watch just a few scenes, but ended up watching the entire movie again. It is that kind of movie. This time I payed close attention to Marilyn Monroe (as if anyone can take their eyes of her when she is on screen) because I’d been spending time with the literary Lorelei Lee. Monroe’s performance is really extraordinary. What she does may look easy, but the ease with which she portrays the role, like a second skin, is really impressive. In my opinion, she should have at least received an Oscar nod. Jane Russell does a wonderful job playing the second best looking girl in the room. If you haven’t seen the movie, please put it on your list. It is truly a marvel to behold.
Anita Loos, beautiful and smart, and very not blonde.
I laughed many times while reading this book. The humor pounces unexpectedly. Lorelei will say something that sounds perfectly normal; but then, when your brain has a chance to break down what she said into parts, you start to realize that she snuck a Lorelei-ism that shouldn’t make sense.
”And so I really think that I can say good-bye to my diary feeling that, after all, everything always turns out for the best.”
I never doubted that Lorelei would get what she wanted. She says it best: “I can be smart when it is important.”
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
April 22, 2021
Con esta deliciosa novela, Anita Loos tiene el enorme mérito de haber creado un gran personaje.
Lorelei Lee, esa rubia que lucirá por siempre en el inconsciente colectivo como la exuberante Marilyn, ocupa por derecho propio un puesto relevante en esa larga lista de personajes listos-tontos que ha dado la literatura. No muy lejos de ella está ese otro gran personaje que es Nick Corey, el entrañable sheriff que creó Jim Thomson en su fantástica novela 1280 almas, aunque en el caso de Lorelei los asesinaditos solo serían las cuentas corrientes de los licenciosos caballeros que caen bajo su embrujo; o ese otro gran tonto-listo que es Manolito, el hijo del tendero del barrio de Mafalda, con el que quizás comparta Lorelei, al contrario que con el personaje de Thompson, una inocencia que a ellos les impide tener remordimientos y a nosotros censurarlos por malintencionados. Ambos exhiben una desbordante candidez y simplicidad en la lógica que rige sus acciones y pensamientos; una lógica como aquella de la que hizo gala la señora que asistía a una cena y que cuando le tocó servirse de la bandeja de espárragos cortó para ella todas las puntas dejando para los demás únicamente los troncos. Al ser interpelada por su compañero de mesa acerca de tan singular conducta simplemente contestó que a ella le gustaban mucho más las puntas que los troncos.
Porque sí, Los caballeros… es una divertidísima novela con la que me he reído como en pocas ocasiones gracias a las peripecias en las que Lorelei consigue con suma facilidad e ingenio manejar para su propio provecho a unos hombres que estaban muy lejos de imaginar que eran ellos los manejados. Bien es cierto que esa es su única habilidad (conocida, porque en las distancias cortas estoy seguro de que tampoco se manejaba mal), pero no lo es menos que es una habilidad de la que es una consumada maestra y con la cual alcanzó el principal objetivo que, según su propia filosofía de vida, toda mujer en sus cabales debería perseguir y que no es otro que el de rodearse en todo momento de cosas bonitas, de esas cosas que son más bonitas cuantos más diamantes tienen.
Con la ayuda de esta inocente y maravillosa arpía, Anita Loos construye una aguda sátira del puritanismo y la hipocresía de la sociedad americana de los años 20 en la que no faltan los comentarios mordaces, los diálogos inteligentes y divertidos gags, y que está muy por encima de la fallida película de mismo título que ni la mismísima Marilyn consiguió salvar.
Lorelei Lee, esa rubia que lucirá por siempre en el inconsciente colectivo como la exuberante Marilyn, ocupa por derecho propio un puesto relevante en esa larga lista de personajes listos-tontos que ha dado la literatura. No muy lejos de ella está ese otro gran personaje que es Nick Corey, el entrañable sheriff que creó Jim Thomson en su fantástica novela 1280 almas, aunque en el caso de Lorelei los asesinaditos solo serían las cuentas corrientes de los licenciosos caballeros que caen bajo su embrujo; o ese otro gran tonto-listo que es Manolito, el hijo del tendero del barrio de Mafalda, con el que quizás comparta Lorelei, al contrario que con el personaje de Thompson, una inocencia que a ellos les impide tener remordimientos y a nosotros censurarlos por malintencionados. Ambos exhiben una desbordante candidez y simplicidad en la lógica que rige sus acciones y pensamientos; una lógica como aquella de la que hizo gala la señora que asistía a una cena y que cuando le tocó servirse de la bandeja de espárragos cortó para ella todas las puntas dejando para los demás únicamente los troncos. Al ser interpelada por su compañero de mesa acerca de tan singular conducta simplemente contestó que a ella le gustaban mucho más las puntas que los troncos.
Porque sí, Los caballeros… es una divertidísima novela con la que me he reído como en pocas ocasiones gracias a las peripecias en las que Lorelei consigue con suma facilidad e ingenio manejar para su propio provecho a unos hombres que estaban muy lejos de imaginar que eran ellos los manejados. Bien es cierto que esa es su única habilidad (conocida, porque en las distancias cortas estoy seguro de que tampoco se manejaba mal), pero no lo es menos que es una habilidad de la que es una consumada maestra y con la cual alcanzó el principal objetivo que, según su propia filosofía de vida, toda mujer en sus cabales debería perseguir y que no es otro que el de rodearse en todo momento de cosas bonitas, de esas cosas que son más bonitas cuantos más diamantes tienen.
Con la ayuda de esta inocente y maravillosa arpía, Anita Loos construye una aguda sátira del puritanismo y la hipocresía de la sociedad americana de los años 20 en la que no faltan los comentarios mordaces, los diálogos inteligentes y divertidos gags, y que está muy por encima de la fallida película de mismo título que ni la mismísima Marilyn consiguió salvar.
November 17, 2019
Gerry has had quite a lot of trouble himself and he can not even get married on account of his wife.
To quote my friend Sid, Anita Loos is a comic genius. But not only does she skewer a character in a few words ('I mean he always says that there is really no place to see the latest style in buttons like Paris') but she also exposes so much about the cultural mores of early twentieth century jazz-and-prohibition-age America and its values. It's no wonder that Edith Wharton and James Joyce both fell for this book: Loos plays in Wharton's space of gender and love vs. money, just as she uses language as a source of self-revelation through Lorelei's malapropisms ('riskay stories', 'the Eyefull Tower') and her magnificent use of grammar and the passive tense: 'it seems that I had a revolver in my hand and it seems that the revolver had shot Mr Jennings... it was when Mr Jennings became shot that I got the idea to go into the cinema'.
This reminded me of Becky Sharp with young women forced to be on the make, with all the slippery, characterful voice mastery of Damon Runyon. And, as is the case in both Thackeray and Runyon, it's the amoral, uneducated but sharp, deliciously alive Lorelei with whom we sympathise as she traverses American and European society with humour and liveliness while never taking her eye off the main chance - whether it's outwitting a pair of French lawyers/jewel thieves, training her admirers into the best present buying (diamonds only, please) or marrying into an wealthy and eccentric family.
Written in a diary format, Lorelei's observations are pithy, funny ('I mean Fanny is almost historical, because when a girl is cute for 50 years it really begins to get historical') and often unwittingly astute ('I always think that the most delightful thing about travelling is to always be running into Americans and to always feel at home'). Her meeting with 'Doctor Froyde' is one mini-highlight as are her comments on London, Paris and Vienna - all seen from the champagne bar of the Ritz hotel in each city and the best jewellers.
For all its lightness, there is a darker subtext: what happened to Dorothy in the past that Lorelei is so protective about her? What, indeed, caused Mr Jennings to get himself shot? The world for women on their own with no education, no money other than what they can cadge off married 'admirers', and no secure place in the world can be a very cold and scary place - so hurrah for Lorelei's uninhibited and good-natured exploitation of a society which sees her as no more than a blonde.
September 14, 2016
Here is what Edith Wharton called the Great American Novel, and when it showed up on the Guardian's Top 100 English Novels list it was suggested that perhaps she was being sarcastic. But when one nominates the Great American Novel, one is defining America at least as much as the Novel, yes? And I'm going to venture to suggest that it may not have been the Novel that Wharton was feeling sarcastic about.
There's a straight line between Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' Lorelei and Marilyn Monroe and Madonna, just as there's a line between Dorothy Parker and Sylvia Plath and Lena Dunham, and you can see why Dorothy Parker found it necessary to rebut this book with her short story Big Blonde; these are different archetypes here, and they don't go to the same parties.
But Lorelei is an archetype, one of the great characters, an American Becky Sharp, and this book makes an impact, despite its often preposterous plot. (You know where else Freud makes a personal appearance is Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.) Anita Loos (her real name, surprisingly, not a dirty joke you didn't get) knows exactly what she's doing. Lorelei's ditzily unreliable narration packs a ton of information in between its lines.
And it's funny. Like, super funny: one of the funniest books I've ever read.
I'm writing this on Thanksgiving, and the news today is filled with breathless anticipation of tomorrow, which we call Black Friday because people are most likely going to actually die in pursuit of discounts and yes, sure: Lorelei is the Great American Hero we deserve.
There's a straight line between Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' Lorelei and Marilyn Monroe and Madonna, just as there's a line between Dorothy Parker and Sylvia Plath and Lena Dunham, and you can see why Dorothy Parker found it necessary to rebut this book with her short story Big Blonde; these are different archetypes here, and they don't go to the same parties.
But Lorelei is an archetype, one of the great characters, an American Becky Sharp, and this book makes an impact, despite its often preposterous plot. (You know where else Freud makes a personal appearance is Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.) Anita Loos (her real name, surprisingly, not a dirty joke you didn't get) knows exactly what she's doing. Lorelei's ditzily unreliable narration packs a ton of information in between its lines.
And it's funny. Like, super funny: one of the funniest books I've ever read.
I'm writing this on Thanksgiving, and the news today is filled with breathless anticipation of tomorrow, which we call Black Friday because people are most likely going to actually die in pursuit of discounts and yes, sure: Lorelei is the Great American Hero we deserve.
February 22, 2019
Because not only is it timeless as well as hilarious, but when your kid is one of the cast members it’s even sweeter. Every star!
February 25, 2020
I wasn't impressed with this book at all! The movie with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell was so funny and cute. I can't believe the movie was based on this book which wasn't funny or cute. If you're looking for enjoyment, see the movie instead and save yourself from being bored stiff!
January 21, 2013
Driving to school to pick up Georgia only 45 minutes ago! (how up to the minute is this review?), on the Radio is "Brain of Britain 2013", a general knowledge contest. One of the questions :
Who wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?
Contestant ponders, then says
"Henry James"
Now, wouldn't that have been something? Anita Loos gets the idea for "The Wings of the Dove" and Henry James gets the idea for "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes : The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady"... I'd buy them both.
Who wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?
Contestant ponders, then says
"Henry James"
Now, wouldn't that have been something? Anita Loos gets the idea for "The Wings of the Dove" and Henry James gets the idea for "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes : The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady"... I'd buy them both.
February 8, 2016
Anita Loos (1889-1981) was a successful playwright, screenwriter, and novelist, but she is best known for her best selling book, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Loos released her novel in a period when some of the great American authors were writing books like The Great Gatsby, The Sun Also Rises, Main Street, and The Age of Innocence, whose author Edith Wharton referred to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as "the great American novel". There may have been a little sarcasm in that, but I think she was impressed with what Loos accomplished. And having lived in NewYork and Paris, she probably got a laugh out of Lorelei's escapades through those cities.
Don't be mislead into thinking this is a shallow book, pandering to a sex crazy, Jazz Age, male audience. No, Anita Loos aims a little higher than that, with a parody of the female stereotypes created by the Hollywood film industry of the 1920s. And along the way she creates Lorelei Lee from Little Rock Arkansas, one of the truly iconic characters in 20th century American literature. Her character was later immortalized by Marylyn Monroe in the film by the same name. While I got a laugh out of the story and characters, along the way I may have learned something about human nature and single minded determination.
Don't be mislead into thinking this is a shallow book, pandering to a sex crazy, Jazz Age, male audience. No, Anita Loos aims a little higher than that, with a parody of the female stereotypes created by the Hollywood film industry of the 1920s. And along the way she creates Lorelei Lee from Little Rock Arkansas, one of the truly iconic characters in 20th century American literature. Her character was later immortalized by Marylyn Monroe in the film by the same name. While I got a laugh out of the story and characters, along the way I may have learned something about human nature and single minded determination.
November 29, 2021
What a hoot! You’ve seen the movie, now read the book!
When Anita Loos started writing these satirical sketches for Harper’s Bazaar, Marilyn Monroe hadn’t been born but the role was made for her! Lorelei Lee and her friend, Dorothy, are predatory gold diggers living it up in New York and Europe by keeping an endless array of ‘gentleman’ friends in tow. Lorelei is determined to (superficially) educate and refine herself and is full of pretensions. Dorothy is a wisecracker and Lorelei despairs that she will ever be ‘refined’ like her. Both are manipulative and have no qualms about allowing their gentlemen to take them shopping, buy them champagne, wine and dine them, and take them to the theatre before unceremoniously dumping them.
This is such fun to read. I read the beautifully illustrated original edition on Gutenberg. Now I can’t wait to rent out the movie and watch it again.
When Anita Loos started writing these satirical sketches for Harper’s Bazaar, Marilyn Monroe hadn’t been born but the role was made for her! Lorelei Lee and her friend, Dorothy, are predatory gold diggers living it up in New York and Europe by keeping an endless array of ‘gentleman’ friends in tow. Lorelei is determined to (superficially) educate and refine herself and is full of pretensions. Dorothy is a wisecracker and Lorelei despairs that she will ever be ‘refined’ like her. Both are manipulative and have no qualms about allowing their gentlemen to take them shopping, buy them champagne, wine and dine them, and take them to the theatre before unceremoniously dumping them.
This is such fun to read. I read the beautifully illustrated original edition on Gutenberg. Now I can’t wait to rent out the movie and watch it again.
February 19, 2025
─•~❉ DNF ❉~•─
Been wanting to read this since I watched the movie starring Marilyn Monroe about 5/6 years ago.
Unfortunately, this did not live up to my expectations. It's SO FREAKING BORING, I was almost put to sleep!
It seemed to me that I was listening to a person drone on and on and on about things I had no interest in, but I was still forced to smile and nod to not be rude.
Been wanting to read this since I watched the movie starring Marilyn Monroe about 5/6 years ago.
Unfortunately, this did not live up to my expectations. It's SO FREAKING BORING, I was almost put to sleep!
It seemed to me that I was listening to a person drone on and on and on about things I had no interest in, but I was still forced to smile and nod to not be rude.
February 23, 2025
"Gentleman Prefer Blondes" was first serialized one hundred years ago in "Harper's Bazaar" magazine. It was published as a novel later in 1925. The humorous book is written as diary entries of a blonde flapper, Lorelei, as she pursues wealthy men. While she seems like the stereotypical "dumb blonde" in some ways, she is quite clever in reading people and twisting men around her little finger. Lorelei had a fondness for gifts of expensive jewelry from her gentlemen friends. The book follows Lorelei and her friend, Dorothy, on their adventures in New York and various European cities. This is a lighthearted, satirical work that was very popular internationally.
December 13, 2022
Anita Loos led a fascinating life as an actress and writer, with a career spanning more than 80 years, working with D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., William Randolph Hearst, Jean Harlow, Carol Channing, Helen Hayes, and a Cast of Thousands, the title of one of her memoirs, but she is best remembered as the author of this comic Jazz Age classic, which inspired a Broadway musical and two movies.
The novel in the form of the diary of blonde flapper Lorelei Lee, of Little Rock, Arkansas, reports on her seemingly innocent conquest of nearly every wealthy "gentleman" she encounters, in New York City and across Europe, accompanied by her "unrefined" friend Dorothy Shaw. The free LibriVox audiobook is perfectly narrated by Jenn Broda, verbal gymnastics, malapropisms, and all, and I recommend it.
The novel in the form of the diary of blonde flapper Lorelei Lee, of Little Rock, Arkansas, reports on her seemingly innocent conquest of nearly every wealthy "gentleman" she encounters, in New York City and across Europe, accompanied by her "unrefined" friend Dorothy Shaw. The free LibriVox audiobook is perfectly narrated by Jenn Broda, verbal gymnastics, malapropisms, and all, and I recommend it.
April 7, 2015
Wonderful, witty, linguistically experimental in all sorts of unusual ways, and way more intelligent than you may have been led to believe...just like its main character.
I mean, is this not like something from Stein?
" So Mr. Spoffard spends all of his time looking at things that spoil peoples morals. So Mr. Spoffard really must have very strong morals or else all the things that spoil other peoples morals would spoil his morals. But they do not seem to spoil Mr. Spoffards morals and I really think it is wonderful to have such strong morals. "
and
" I am going to stay in bed this morning as I am quite upset as I saw a gentleman who quite upset me. I am not really sure it was the gentleman, as I saw him a quite a distants in the bar, but if it really is the gentleman it shows that when a girl has a lot of fate in her life it is sure to keep on happening."
or
"So Mr. Jennings helped me quite a lot and I stayed in his office about a year when I stayed in his office about a year when I found out he was not the kind of gentleman that a young girl is safe with. I mean one evening when I went to pay a call on him at his apartment, I found a girl there who really was famous all over Little Rock for not being nice. So when I found out that girls like that paid calls on Mr. Jennings I had quite a bad case of hysterics and my mind was really a blank and when I came out of it, it seems that I had a revolver in my hand and it seems that the revolver had shot Mr. Jennings."
I mean, is this not like something from Stein?
" So Mr. Spoffard spends all of his time looking at things that spoil peoples morals. So Mr. Spoffard really must have very strong morals or else all the things that spoil other peoples morals would spoil his morals. But they do not seem to spoil Mr. Spoffards morals and I really think it is wonderful to have such strong morals. "
and
" I am going to stay in bed this morning as I am quite upset as I saw a gentleman who quite upset me. I am not really sure it was the gentleman, as I saw him a quite a distants in the bar, but if it really is the gentleman it shows that when a girl has a lot of fate in her life it is sure to keep on happening."
or
"So Mr. Jennings helped me quite a lot and I stayed in his office about a year when I stayed in his office about a year when I found out he was not the kind of gentleman that a young girl is safe with. I mean one evening when I went to pay a call on him at his apartment, I found a girl there who really was famous all over Little Rock for not being nice. So when I found out that girls like that paid calls on Mr. Jennings I had quite a bad case of hysterics and my mind was really a blank and when I came out of it, it seems that I had a revolver in my hand and it seems that the revolver had shot Mr. Jennings."
August 16, 2017
This book was a lot of fun. It was recently brought to my attention by a fellow goodreads pal (thank you Paul) I was able to find a copy in our local library that had it stored in its basement. It included the original borrowing records showing it was 1st checked out April 1930 and completed with fabulous illustrations. The story is one long scream and left me very intreeged to improve my brain and find more writing by Loos, providing I can talk my maid into reading it for me.
March 3, 2022
“Kissing your hand may make you feel very very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever”
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1925 jazz age satire about Lorelei Lee, a manipulative “dumb” blonde, and her quest to snag a wealth husband.
Lorelei narrates via her diary entries as she and her best friend, Dorothy, traipse from New York to Europe soaking up as lavish of a lifestyle as Dorothy’s gentlemen friends can provide. Their escapades include shopping, dining out, parties, and shows. It all seems superficial with a light airy tone, but underneath Lorelei is more dubious than she appears. In the guise of being “educated,” she doesn’t hesitate to lie, steal, or cheat her way through life.
I only found the book occasionally funny despite its satirical viewpoint. Lorelei made me laugh a couple of time with her deadpan delivery of lines, but it was Dorothy’s sharp biting wit that was the kind of humor I most enjoyed. Unfortunately, Dorothy didn’t have more than a handful of line in the book.
Most people are probably familiar with the 1953 musical comedy adaptation of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. However, it was my first time seeing it plus it was my first Marilyn Monroe movie. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Marilyn was a perfect Lorelei. On screen Lorelei’s lines were funnier than in the book. But what made the film a success was the expanded part about Dorothy, and Jane Russell brought the right attitude and sarcasm to the role. For me, the film is the clear winner when compared with the book. And I wouldn’t call myself a fan of musicals, but the way the songs were paired with dancing like a showtune, fit with the story.
I think the best way to experience the book is by listening to the audio. Narrator, Amara Jasper’s seductive voice for Lorelei and the matter-of-fact style for Dorothy fit the characters well. If you plan to read rather than just watch the movie, I recommend this audio.
The novella length book is on two noteworthy reading lists: Boxall’s 1001 Books to Read and Guardian’s 1000 Books to Read. I assume it is on the lists because of its influence on creating the “dumb blonde” stereotype.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1925 jazz age satire about Lorelei Lee, a manipulative “dumb” blonde, and her quest to snag a wealth husband.
Lorelei narrates via her diary entries as she and her best friend, Dorothy, traipse from New York to Europe soaking up as lavish of a lifestyle as Dorothy’s gentlemen friends can provide. Their escapades include shopping, dining out, parties, and shows. It all seems superficial with a light airy tone, but underneath Lorelei is more dubious than she appears. In the guise of being “educated,” she doesn’t hesitate to lie, steal, or cheat her way through life.
I only found the book occasionally funny despite its satirical viewpoint. Lorelei made me laugh a couple of time with her deadpan delivery of lines, but it was Dorothy’s sharp biting wit that was the kind of humor I most enjoyed. Unfortunately, Dorothy didn’t have more than a handful of line in the book.
Most people are probably familiar with the 1953 musical comedy adaptation of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. However, it was my first time seeing it plus it was my first Marilyn Monroe movie. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! Marilyn was a perfect Lorelei. On screen Lorelei’s lines were funnier than in the book. But what made the film a success was the expanded part about Dorothy, and Jane Russell brought the right attitude and sarcasm to the role. For me, the film is the clear winner when compared with the book. And I wouldn’t call myself a fan of musicals, but the way the songs were paired with dancing like a showtune, fit with the story.
I think the best way to experience the book is by listening to the audio. Narrator, Amara Jasper’s seductive voice for Lorelei and the matter-of-fact style for Dorothy fit the characters well. If you plan to read rather than just watch the movie, I recommend this audio.
The novella length book is on two noteworthy reading lists: Boxall’s 1001 Books to Read and Guardian’s 1000 Books to Read. I assume it is on the lists because of its influence on creating the “dumb blonde” stereotype.
November 7, 2018
Like many others, my introduction to this book was the Marilyn Monroe film, and the narrator of this audio book tells the story in the same breathy, little girl, voice. The novel was actually written in 1925 and was inspired when the author witnessed the reaction of intellectual male friends of hers, to a fellow female traveller on a train journey. Having asked why this lady inspired such interest, she deduced it was her blonde hair that caused such slavish devotion and an idea was born.
Lorelei Lee tells her story as a diary; from her life in a small town and her re-naming in a courtroom after a little trouble which, later in the story, comes back to haunt her. This is a sly look about a young woman who uses her beauty, and charm, to get the most that she can out of life. From Mr Gus Eisman, the ‘button king,’ who installs her in an apartment an attempts to ‘educate’ her, trips to Europe, where she gets mixed up with spies, charms the Prince of Wales, entices Sir Francis Beekman (‘Piggy’) to pay for a diamond tiara and then hatches a plan with her friend, Dorothy, to escape the wrath of Lady Beekman. and is always the lookout to the possibility of snaring a wealthy husband, this is a humorous look at a ‘not as dumb as she seems,’ blonde. Lorelei has a very sensible idea about the world, and her place in it, and this audio book was a delight to listen to.
Lorelei Lee tells her story as a diary; from her life in a small town and her re-naming in a courtroom after a little trouble which, later in the story, comes back to haunt her. This is a sly look about a young woman who uses her beauty, and charm, to get the most that she can out of life. From Mr Gus Eisman, the ‘button king,’ who installs her in an apartment an attempts to ‘educate’ her, trips to Europe, where she gets mixed up with spies, charms the Prince of Wales, entices Sir Francis Beekman (‘Piggy’) to pay for a diamond tiara and then hatches a plan with her friend, Dorothy, to escape the wrath of Lady Beekman. and is always the lookout to the possibility of snaring a wealthy husband, this is a humorous look at a ‘not as dumb as she seems,’ blonde. Lorelei has a very sensible idea about the world, and her place in it, and this audio book was a delight to listen to.
February 20, 2020
Meh. It's supposed to be humorous but I didn't really laugh.
I guess at the time this was a bold book to write. The main character is the beautiful blond featherhead who manipulates men for money and is so upfront about it she almost sounds innocent about it. I guess at the time the image of such a woman was fresh and alluring enough for such a book to be funny and sound like social commentary.
But I guess the humor got dated out of that historical context. I was pretty bored. Glad the book was so short.
Anyway, I think the author did a good job of creating Lorelei Lee. Her voice sounded authentic, I really did see her through that diary full of typos.
The movie with Marylin Monroe is much better. The charm that didn't seep through the pages does seep through the screen
Overall okay but totally skippable.
I guess at the time this was a bold book to write. The main character is the beautiful blond featherhead who manipulates men for money and is so upfront about it she almost sounds innocent about it. I guess at the time the image of such a woman was fresh and alluring enough for such a book to be funny and sound like social commentary.
But I guess the humor got dated out of that historical context. I was pretty bored. Glad the book was so short.
Anyway, I think the author did a good job of creating Lorelei Lee. Her voice sounded authentic, I really did see her through that diary full of typos.
The movie with Marylin Monroe is much better. The charm that didn't seep through the pages does seep through the screen
Overall okay but totally skippable.
June 20, 2023
76th book of 2023.
I've never seen the film, but was interested in Loos's vision of 20s New York. The style carries the novel and if you can't get onboard with that, there isn't much else going for it in terms of plot. Lorelei has a distinct voice (you are reading her diary) and relates in fairly simple terms what she does, mostly travelling from New York to England to Paris to Vienna to Budapest, etc., in search of 'education', sometimes a diamond tiara and a husband. It is well-written, even if it annoys you, Lorelei writes with a ditsy naivete but uses it to her advantage. An example of a paragraph:
Repeat said tone for 140 pages. I didn't find it funny, but I appreciated certain paragraphs that weren't too over the top, ones that reminded me of the repetitiveness and humour of Catch-22, in some strange way. There are random jokes like, 'Dorothy said she had to concentrate her mind on the massacre of the Armenians to keep herself from laughing right out loud in everybody's face.' Honestly, I'd rather just read The Great Gatsby for the fourth time.
I've never seen the film, but was interested in Loos's vision of 20s New York. The style carries the novel and if you can't get onboard with that, there isn't much else going for it in terms of plot. Lorelei has a distinct voice (you are reading her diary) and relates in fairly simple terms what she does, mostly travelling from New York to England to Paris to Vienna to Budapest, etc., in search of 'education', sometimes a diamond tiara and a husband. It is well-written, even if it annoys you, Lorelei writes with a ditsy naivete but uses it to her advantage. An example of a paragraph:
So now we must get ready to get off the train when the train gets to Munich so we can look at all of the kunst in Munich.
May 19th: Well yesterday Mr. Spoffard and I and Dorothy got off the train at Munich to see all of the kunst in Munich, but you only call it Munch when you are on the train because as soon as you get off of the train they seem to call it Munchen. So you really would know that Munchen was full of kunst because in case you would not know it, they have painted the word "kunst" in large size black letters on everything in Munchen, and you can not even see a boot black's stand in Munchen that is not full of kunst.
Repeat said tone for 140 pages. I didn't find it funny, but I appreciated certain paragraphs that weren't too over the top, ones that reminded me of the repetitiveness and humour of Catch-22, in some strange way. There are random jokes like, 'Dorothy said she had to concentrate her mind on the massacre of the Armenians to keep herself from laughing right out loud in everybody's face.' Honestly, I'd rather just read The Great Gatsby for the fourth time.
March 5, 2014
How can it possibly be that only one of my goodreads friends has read this and yet James Joyce couldn't resist it?
In the 1920s, Anita Loos, a gorgeous intelligent brunette Hollywood writer became pretty well pissed off at the fact that the men around her preferred dumb blondes. This hilarious book is the result of her venting her spleen on the matter. It can be read on various levels, certainly as a biting satire of Western values both in America and Europe. It was a huge seller at the time, one of those books that appeal to all.
Rest here:
http://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpres...
In the 1920s, Anita Loos, a gorgeous intelligent brunette Hollywood writer became pretty well pissed off at the fact that the men around her preferred dumb blondes. This hilarious book is the result of her venting her spleen on the matter. It can be read on various levels, certainly as a biting satire of Western values both in America and Europe. It was a huge seller at the time, one of those books that appeal to all.
Rest here:
http://alittleteaalittlechat.wordpres...
June 4, 2020
This is the story, first person diary form, of a little blonde girl from Little Rock, Arkansas who is apparently so mesmerizingly pretty that every man who comes into contact with her wants her for himself and finds himself, not always willingly, spending oodles of money on her, in New York and abroad. This little blonde is able to swindle any man, married or single. She is the ultimate gold digger.
The writing is fluid and funny in that the protagonist, Lorelei Lee, writes like she is some wide eyed air head, yet she knows what she wants. Stuff. Expensive stuff and lots of it. Men are her means of getting it. One wonders if she knows this is a young woman's profession and she might want to get a nursing degree or something before she ages out of her career.
While initially I enjoyed the book, it got a little monotonous and, frankly, I didn't like Lorelei very much. She gives a bad name to women, although I know the author, Loos, was parodying a type, I found myself rooting for the stupid men she came across.
The book is much better than the movie. Unless you like watching Marilyn Monroe and Rosalind Russell pose around, singing inane songs.
The writing is fluid and funny in that the protagonist, Lorelei Lee, writes like she is some wide eyed air head, yet she knows what she wants. Stuff. Expensive stuff and lots of it. Men are her means of getting it. One wonders if she knows this is a young woman's profession and she might want to get a nursing degree or something before she ages out of her career.
While initially I enjoyed the book, it got a little monotonous and, frankly, I didn't like Lorelei very much. She gives a bad name to women, although I know the author, Loos, was parodying a type, I found myself rooting for the stupid men she came across.
The book is much better than the movie. Unless you like watching Marilyn Monroe and Rosalind Russell pose around, singing inane songs.
October 18, 2022
THE PERFECT WAY TO APPRECIATE ONE OF MY FAVOURITE MOVIES EVEN MORE
I have - for many years - been obsessed with golden era Hollywood and Marilyn Monroe. So when I realised that one of my favourite movies was also a book...! I had just had to read it! And I am so happy I did. It really made me appreciate the movie and Monroe's interpretation of the character even more. While Lorelei comes across as vapid and slightly dumb, it soon becomes clear that there's much more to her. It was really a nice, fun, easy read.s
I have - for many years - been obsessed with golden era Hollywood and Marilyn Monroe. So when I realised that one of my favourite movies was also a book...! I had just had to read it! And I am so happy I did. It really made me appreciate the movie and Monroe's interpretation of the character even more. While Lorelei comes across as vapid and slightly dumb, it soon becomes clear that there's much more to her. It was really a nice, fun, easy read.s
"Kissing your hand may make you feel very very good but a diamand and sapphire bracelet lasts forever."
"[...] all Henry has to do to spoil a party is to arrive at it."
February 19, 2025
Can't remember a thing.......pitiful!
November 16, 2021
Digo, todos estamos de acuerdo que "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" es top 10 de los momentos más icónicos de la cultura pop.
Literal esa fue la única razón por la cual leí el libro, aparte de mi cierta obsesión con la era de oro Hollywoodense. Y literal este libro es eso: glamour, opulencia y, hasta cierto punto, pura exageración.
Leer a Lorelei quejarse porque no le podían comprar una tiara de diamantes me dio vida. Este libro juega con el arquetipo de "dumb blonde" y le da un giro, bastante empoderado, lo cual me sorprendió demasiado especialmente tomando en cuenta que este libro fue escrito en los años 20. Es encantador en muchos sentidos, gracias a la personalidad de la protagonista y por la forma en la que está narrado me atrevo a decir.
Disfruté mucho de las aventuras de Dorothy y Lorelei, de sus ocurrencias y de las multitudes de hombres con las cuales se encontraban. Este libro me dio toda mi fantasía y me la pasé muy bien leyéndolo. La razón de mi calificación es porque no fui muy fan del estilo de escritura. Este libro está contado como un diario y Anita Loos tomó ciertas decisiones estilísticas que no me encantaron, y entiendo que fueron hechas para elaborar la personalidad de la protagonista, pero no me terminaron de convencer del todo.
Anywho, que buen libro y es icónico por muchas razones. Que viva Marylin Monroe.
Literal esa fue la única razón por la cual leí el libro, aparte de mi cierta obsesión con la era de oro Hollywoodense. Y literal este libro es eso: glamour, opulencia y, hasta cierto punto, pura exageración.
Leer a Lorelei quejarse porque no le podían comprar una tiara de diamantes me dio vida. Este libro juega con el arquetipo de "dumb blonde" y le da un giro, bastante empoderado, lo cual me sorprendió demasiado especialmente tomando en cuenta que este libro fue escrito en los años 20. Es encantador en muchos sentidos, gracias a la personalidad de la protagonista y por la forma en la que está narrado me atrevo a decir.
Disfruté mucho de las aventuras de Dorothy y Lorelei, de sus ocurrencias y de las multitudes de hombres con las cuales se encontraban. Este libro me dio toda mi fantasía y me la pasé muy bien leyéndolo. La razón de mi calificación es porque no fui muy fan del estilo de escritura. Este libro está contado como un diario y Anita Loos tomó ciertas decisiones estilísticas que no me encantaron, y entiendo que fueron hechas para elaborar la personalidad de la protagonista, pero no me terminaron de convencer del todo.
Anywho, que buen libro y es icónico por muchas razones. Que viva Marylin Monroe.
October 9, 2022
Deliciously fun and cleverly written, from a pretty blonde gold digger’s point of view. Lorelei Lee is not well educated, but beautiful and knows how to rub a gentleman’s ego… and other parts. Thus gentlemen line up to educate her and her straight talking friend, Dorothy. They romp through Europe but their idea of sightseeing is not The Tower of London (it is so small, we got way taller towers here in America!), but the jewelry and clothing stores. As Lorelei’s diary unfolds, we find she is not that stupid as she appears (because blondes know how to appear innocent and naive), but quite crafty and able to always get what she wants.
I now must watch the movie with Marylin Monroe!
I now must watch the movie with Marylin Monroe!
February 7, 2024
2024 reread: such fun! Now off to see if I can find the movie version for free....
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Review of the audiobook edition:
This Audible edition starts with an introduction and a preface (I guess) which are labelled as Chapters 1 and 2. If, like me, you prefer to skip introductions, then start with Chapter 3!
Patrice O'Neill's voice was excellent for this novel; a bit reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe in the film version but not overly so.
------------
Review of the audiobook edition:
This Audible edition starts with an introduction and a preface (I guess) which are labelled as Chapters 1 and 2. If, like me, you prefer to skip introductions, then start with Chapter 3!
Patrice O'Neill's voice was excellent for this novel; a bit reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe in the film version but not overly so.
July 11, 2021
The humour of this was not my kind of humour. I cringed a lot and just couldn't stand listening to this. I get its a classic for a reason but it wasn't my thing.
July 25, 2024
As with the proverbial iceberg, 90% of this century-old novel is below the surface, but don't miss the remaining snarky, subversive, and stiletto funny 10%. Kept thinking of Jane Austen ...
January 28, 2023
In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Anita Loos adopts the persona of blonde-about-town Lorelei Lee to satirize multiple aspects of contemporary 1920s society. Written as Lorelei’s diary, full of grammatical errors, misspellings, colloquialisms, double entendres, and linguistic faux faux pas, the book propels readers along the stream of Lorelei’s consciousness as she flits with her friend and foil Dorothy from one “gentleman” to another, from New York, to London, to Paris, to “the Central of Europe,” and back.
Although Lorelei is a small-town girl from Arkansas, who made her debut, according to Dorothy, “at the Elks annual street fair and carnival at the age of 15,” she’s got brains enough to have mastered the art of being blonde. Back in Little Rock, she was accused of murdering a “gentleman” named Jennings, but the jury acquitted her after three minutes when she testified that she was so shocked to learn that the gentleman in question was associating with girls who weren’t “nice,” that she became hysterical and her mind went blank—“and when I came out of it, it seems that I had a revolver in my hand and it seems that the revolver had shot Mr. Jennings.”
The judge was so impressed with her that he suggested she take the name Lorelei (we aren’t told what her given name was, although Loos says the character was based on a girl named Mabel Minnow)—“which is the name of a girl who became famous for sitting on a rock in Germany”—and go to Hollywood. She took his advice, but while in Hollywood she met Gus Eisman, who is “known all over Chicago as the Button King.” Mr. Eisman has set her up in New York, but only to improve her mind. “And he is the gentleman who is interested in educating me, so of course he is always coming down to New York to see how my brains have improved since the last time. … So of course when a gentleman is interested in educating a girl, he likes to stay and talk about the topics of the day until quite late, so I am quite fatigued the next day and I do not really get up until it is time to dress for dinner at the Colony.”
Lorelei meets other gentlemen in New York too, such as Gerry, who “seems to like me more for my soul.” But Gerry is not a realistic candidate for marriage. “So it seems that Gerry has had quite a lot of trouble himself and he can not even get married on account of his wife. He and she have never been in love with each other but she was a suffragette and asked him to marry her, so what could he do?”
Lorelei loves shopping, shows, dinners at the Ritz, jewels, and champagne: “I mean champagne always makes me feel philosophical because it makes me realize that when a girl’s life is as full of fate as mine seems to be, there is nothing else to do about it.”
At Mr. Eisman’s suggestion, Lorelei and Dorothy take their act on the road, or more accurately, on a ship to Europe. They are delighted when they arrive at the Ritz in London because it is full of Americans: “I always think that the most delightful thing about traveling is to always be running into Americans and to always feel at home.” One American they run into is the famous (real-life) actress Fanny Ward, who was in her mid-50s when the novel was published. “So now Fanny lives in London and is famous for being one of the cutest girls in London. I mean Fanny is almost historical, because when a girl is cute for 50 years it really begins to get historical.”
Wherever she goes, Lorelei manages to charm whatever gentleman she sets her sights on. But in Paris, she decides that she prefers American men. “So I really think that American gentlemen are the best after all, because kissing your hand may make you feel very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever.”
Meanwhile, Lorelei often worries about Dorothy making the wrong impression, because, unlike Lorelei, Dorothy is “unrefined.” But she does rely on Dorothy to help carry out the schemes she thinks up to snare (or un-snare) a gentleman. Dorothy appreciates Lorelei’s intellect: “So when I got through telling Dorothy what I thought up, Dorothy looked at me and looked at me and she really said she thought my brains were a miracle. I mean she said my brains reminded her of a radio because you listen to it for days and days and you get discouradged and just when you are getting ready to smash it, something comes out that is a masterpiece.”
Traveling on the train in “the Central of Europe,” Lorelei meets Henry Spoffard, a wealthy and famous American who “works all of the time for the good of the others” as a censor of plays and movies. Henry is a strict “Prespyterian,” which surprises Lorelei “because when most gentlemen are 35 years of age their minds nearly always seem to be on something else.” She thinks “it would be quite unusual for a girl like I to have a friendship with a gentleman like Mr. Spoffard.”
Will Henry be the one, the gentleman who wins Lorelei’s heart? She’s torn. When she and Dorothy plan a party, she doesn’t want Henry to know about it, “because all Henry has to do to spoil a party is to arrive at it.” But on the other hand, he is very wealthy. And Dorothy suggests that Lorelei should take a chance and marry Henry “because she had an idea that if Henry married me he would commit suicide about two weeks later.”
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was published by the renowned publishing house Boni & Liveright in 1925, the same year they published works by Theodore Dreiser, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound. The book was a hit when it was published, and it has been made into several stage versions and adapted for the big screen by Howard Hawks in a 1953 release starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. I’ve never seen the movie, but it’s on my watchlist, especially after reading the book.
Does the book itself hold up almost a hundred years after it was published? I’d say yes, overall. Some of it is dated, but Lorelei is such an archetype that even modern readers can relate to her. And Loos’s clever linguistic gyrations mostly remain fresh and entertaining. I’m a fan.
Although Lorelei is a small-town girl from Arkansas, who made her debut, according to Dorothy, “at the Elks annual street fair and carnival at the age of 15,” she’s got brains enough to have mastered the art of being blonde. Back in Little Rock, she was accused of murdering a “gentleman” named Jennings, but the jury acquitted her after three minutes when she testified that she was so shocked to learn that the gentleman in question was associating with girls who weren’t “nice,” that she became hysterical and her mind went blank—“and when I came out of it, it seems that I had a revolver in my hand and it seems that the revolver had shot Mr. Jennings.”
The judge was so impressed with her that he suggested she take the name Lorelei (we aren’t told what her given name was, although Loos says the character was based on a girl named Mabel Minnow)—“which is the name of a girl who became famous for sitting on a rock in Germany”—and go to Hollywood. She took his advice, but while in Hollywood she met Gus Eisman, who is “known all over Chicago as the Button King.” Mr. Eisman has set her up in New York, but only to improve her mind. “And he is the gentleman who is interested in educating me, so of course he is always coming down to New York to see how my brains have improved since the last time. … So of course when a gentleman is interested in educating a girl, he likes to stay and talk about the topics of the day until quite late, so I am quite fatigued the next day and I do not really get up until it is time to dress for dinner at the Colony.”
Lorelei meets other gentlemen in New York too, such as Gerry, who “seems to like me more for my soul.” But Gerry is not a realistic candidate for marriage. “So it seems that Gerry has had quite a lot of trouble himself and he can not even get married on account of his wife. He and she have never been in love with each other but she was a suffragette and asked him to marry her, so what could he do?”
Lorelei loves shopping, shows, dinners at the Ritz, jewels, and champagne: “I mean champagne always makes me feel philosophical because it makes me realize that when a girl’s life is as full of fate as mine seems to be, there is nothing else to do about it.”
At Mr. Eisman’s suggestion, Lorelei and Dorothy take their act on the road, or more accurately, on a ship to Europe. They are delighted when they arrive at the Ritz in London because it is full of Americans: “I always think that the most delightful thing about traveling is to always be running into Americans and to always feel at home.” One American they run into is the famous (real-life) actress Fanny Ward, who was in her mid-50s when the novel was published. “So now Fanny lives in London and is famous for being one of the cutest girls in London. I mean Fanny is almost historical, because when a girl is cute for 50 years it really begins to get historical.”
Wherever she goes, Lorelei manages to charm whatever gentleman she sets her sights on. But in Paris, she decides that she prefers American men. “So I really think that American gentlemen are the best after all, because kissing your hand may make you feel very good but a diamond and safire bracelet lasts forever.”
Meanwhile, Lorelei often worries about Dorothy making the wrong impression, because, unlike Lorelei, Dorothy is “unrefined.” But she does rely on Dorothy to help carry out the schemes she thinks up to snare (or un-snare) a gentleman. Dorothy appreciates Lorelei’s intellect: “So when I got through telling Dorothy what I thought up, Dorothy looked at me and looked at me and she really said she thought my brains were a miracle. I mean she said my brains reminded her of a radio because you listen to it for days and days and you get discouradged and just when you are getting ready to smash it, something comes out that is a masterpiece.”
Traveling on the train in “the Central of Europe,” Lorelei meets Henry Spoffard, a wealthy and famous American who “works all of the time for the good of the others” as a censor of plays and movies. Henry is a strict “Prespyterian,” which surprises Lorelei “because when most gentlemen are 35 years of age their minds nearly always seem to be on something else.” She thinks “it would be quite unusual for a girl like I to have a friendship with a gentleman like Mr. Spoffard.”
Will Henry be the one, the gentleman who wins Lorelei’s heart? She’s torn. When she and Dorothy plan a party, she doesn’t want Henry to know about it, “because all Henry has to do to spoil a party is to arrive at it.” But on the other hand, he is very wealthy. And Dorothy suggests that Lorelei should take a chance and marry Henry “because she had an idea that if Henry married me he would commit suicide about two weeks later.”
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was published by the renowned publishing house Boni & Liveright in 1925, the same year they published works by Theodore Dreiser, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound. The book was a hit when it was published, and it has been made into several stage versions and adapted for the big screen by Howard Hawks in a 1953 release starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. I’ve never seen the movie, but it’s on my watchlist, especially after reading the book.
Does the book itself hold up almost a hundred years after it was published? I’d say yes, overall. Some of it is dated, but Lorelei is such an archetype that even modern readers can relate to her. And Loos’s clever linguistic gyrations mostly remain fresh and entertaining. I’m a fan.
April 11, 2021
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is just brilliant. It’s a comic gem – and far, far better than the film even though the film is good.
Anita Loos writes in Lorelei’s voice as she takes advantage of her devastating good looks to charm men into doing whatever she wants including giving her gifts of diamonds to alleviate her headaches and acquitting her of murder after “Mr Jennings became shot.” It is consistently hilarious, from her visiting the Eyefull Tower to Dr. Froyd telling her that she needs to cultivate some inhibitions, with Lorelei’s solecisms and faux naiveté a constant delight. (James Joyce once told his publisher he wasn't making any progress on his book because he had been reading Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for three whole days and when George Santayana was asked to name the best book of philosophy written by an American, he is said to have answered “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”)
I first read this sometime in the early 1980s and it is still just as good after 40 years. Very, very warmly recommended.
Anita Loos writes in Lorelei’s voice as she takes advantage of her devastating good looks to charm men into doing whatever she wants including giving her gifts of diamonds to alleviate her headaches and acquitting her of murder after “Mr Jennings became shot.” It is consistently hilarious, from her visiting the Eyefull Tower to Dr. Froyd telling her that she needs to cultivate some inhibitions, with Lorelei’s solecisms and faux naiveté a constant delight. (James Joyce once told his publisher he wasn't making any progress on his book because he had been reading Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for three whole days and when George Santayana was asked to name the best book of philosophy written by an American, he is said to have answered “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”)
I first read this sometime in the early 1980s and it is still just as good after 40 years. Very, very warmly recommended.
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