Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells: The Best of Early Vanity Fair

by Graydon Carter (Introduction and Editor), David Friend (Editor)

For the magazine’s centenary celebration, an anthology of pieces from the early golden age of Vanity Fair

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Vanity Fair magazine, Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells celebrates the publication’s astonishing early catalogue of writers, with works by Dorothy Parker, Noël Coward, P. G. Wodehouse, Jean Cocteau, Colette, Gertrude Stein, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sherwood Anderson, Robert Benchley, Langston Hughes—and many others. Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter introduces these fabulous pieces written between 1913 and 1936, when the magazine published a murderers’ row of the world’s leading literary lights.
  Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells features great writers on great topics, including F. Scott Fitzgerald on what a magazine should be, Clarence Darrow on equality, D. H. Lawrence on women, e.e. cummings on Calvin Coolidge, John Maynard Keynes on the collapse in money value, Thomas Mann on how films move the human heart, Alexander Woollcott on Harpo Marx, Carl Sandburg on Charlie Chaplin, Djuna Barnes on James Joyce, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., on Joan Crawford, and Dorothy Parker on a host of topics ranging from why she hates actresses to why she hasn’t married.
These essays reflect the rich period of their creation while simultaneously addressing topics that would be recognizable in the magazine today, such as how women should navigate work and home life; our destructive fascination with the entertainment industry and with professional sports; the collapse of public faith in the financial industry; and, as Aldous Huxley asks herein, “What, Exactly, Is Modern?”

Offering readers an inebriating swig from that great cocktail shaker of the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, the age of Gatsby, Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells showcases unforgettable writers in search of how to live well in a changing era. 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Essays, Short Stories, Unfinished, Poetry, Historical

432 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2014

About the author

Graydon Carter is a Canadian journalist, editor, and publisher best known for his tenure as editor of Vanity Fair from 1992 to 2017. Before joining the magazine, he co-founded the satirical publication Spy in 1986 alongside Kurt Andersen and Tom Phillips. Under his leadership, Vanity Fair became known for its mix of celebrity profiles and investigative journalism, winning 14 National Magazine Awards and earning Carter a place in the Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame.
Carter's editorial influence extended beyond print, as he played a key role in producing several documentaries, including Public Speaking (2010), His Way (2011), and Gonzo, a film about Hunter S. Thompson. He was also an executive producer of 9/11, a CBS documentary about the September 11 attacks, which won both an Emmy and a Peabody Award. In 2019, he co-launched the newsletter Air Mail with Alessandra Stanley, targeting a global readership.
Beyond journalism, Carter has been involved in the restaurant business, co-owning The Waverly Inn in New York and previously partnering in the historic Monkey Bar. His contributions to media and culture were recognized in 2017 when he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

[Nerisa Eugenia Waterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“BOHEMIANS, BOOTLEGGERS, FLAPPERS & SWELLS: THE BEST OF EARLY VANITY FAIR” Edited by Graydon Carter with David Friend is a collection of funny, entertaining, educational and sometimes not so witty essays, short stories, poetry written by some of the greatest writers of the 1910s-1930s.

The book represents the creativity and insight of over 70 contributors, some well known, and some just merging onto the scene. If I could have changed one thing... it would of have been... placing the biography of each Author with the Author’s work… instead of placing it at the end of the book.

For those of you who are “Vanity Fair” Aficionado this book serves as a time capsule of the best of the best during this era. For me, a person who was not born until the 1970’s, I found it fascinating to read articles voicing America’s culture during an era when equality was not so equal, Jazz was one of the hottest music out there, and Fashion was somewhat controversial.

This book was no doubt a fascinating read, and it will take you on a historical journey. If you are looking for a novel…or a memoir…this book is not for you. This book is almost like taking the diary of various writers, musicians, actors, and socialites and compressing it into one volume….giving you insight into the mind and World surrounding each individual…as it gives you insight on the World surrounding you… in the here… and the now… the World of 2014.

In conclusion…I will end this book review by saying…
You’re not going to love every single article in this book, I certainly didn’t, and that is simply a matter of taste. However, there are some articles in this book that will make love to your mind….leave you breathless….and leave you wanting more.

These are the articles that makes this book “BOHEMIANS, BOOTLEGGERS, FLAPPERS & SWELLS: THE BEST OF EARLY VANITY FAIR” worth having as part of your personal Library.

This review is written as it appears on www.myohosisters.webs.com:
http://myohosisters.webs.com/apps/blo...-

[Melissa Balkon]

I read this book as part of the Penguin First to Read program. It was a bit different than I thought it was going to be. I envisioned both essays and visuals juxtaposed with one-another, but in actuality the book was purely essays and poetry republished from around 1910-1930. The beauty of the book was that it was easy to jump around from essay to essay, skipping what was less of interest to me and digging in to the ones that were more appealing. The topics range from silly short stories and poems to critical thought pieces on feminism, art and the depression-era economy. What I found most interesting was how so many of these essays from nearly 100 years ago seem to parallel issues we're still dealing with today. Since the book is composed of writings from the early 1900s, it can be tough to read at times due to the vernacular of that era. However, if you enjoy taking a peek into the past and don't mind wading through a slightly different style of writing you'll very well enjoy this book.

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The title makes this seem like it's going to be more interesting. What it ultimately felt like was that I was reading really old, out of date issues of Vanity Fair. Exactly what I was doing.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What distinguished the recent collapse of the stock market from other American panics, multiplying the total hysteria but deadening the individual shock, was that it was a thoroughly democratic affair: everybody was in it. All the disgrace in a bourgeois country of being bankrupted was eliminated by the fact that almost everybody else was being bankrupted simultaneously. Other panics have been professional: a movement in stock values, supported in the main by professional traders, to correspond with an intermittent or indicated shift in the nation’s industrial status. Thus the recessions after the Civil War, at the opening of the World War, at the beginning of the twentieth century. But this latest show, in addition to being everyman’s party, had nothing whatever to do with any industrial condition, commodity or inventory inflation war or politics.”

[Michele Cacano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't even imagine what it was like to choose which articles went into this book. Kudos, Mr. Graydon Carter, although I do wish you'd let us in on some of the process. Is a foreword too much to ask from you?

I like the chronological order of the articles. I like the breakdown by decade (1910s, 1920s, & 1930s). I like the variety of writing. In addition to Algonquin Round Table regulars like Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott, Heywood Broun, Robert Benchley, Edna St. Vincent Millay, et al, I was surprised to see such luminaries as James Joyce, Aldous Huxley, P.G.Wodehouse, e.e. cummings, Langston Hughes, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, and more.

I particularly enjoyed Carl Sandburg's piece on Charlie Chaplin, and Max Jacob's on Pablo Picasso. Walter Winchell is as entertaining as I had hoped, and one of the later entries on the history of Monsieur de Paris and the Guillotine by Janet Flanner was fascinating.

Overall, a very good read, which I expect to revisit in the future.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished the last piece in Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells: The Best of Early Vanity Fair. Such a great collection! Some of it funny, some of it serious, and some beautiful writing: Benchley, Dorothy Parker, Sherwood, Broun, Cocteau, Colette, Thomas Mann, Saroyan. It ends with possibly the three best by Janet Flanner, Thomas Wolfe, and Allene Talmey. Something to leave by the bedside for occasional rereading.

[J.S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarcasm as humor
The nice thing about this book is that it's just a bunch of short essays. They can be read in any order, picking and chosing whatever seems interesting at the moment, skipping here and there. The essays are short, most of them only a few pages, although some come closer to 10 pages. And they present an interesting perspective into the times - 1910s, 20s, and 30s - and many of the articles were written by a literary who's who of the times: F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot, e.e. cummings, Carl Sandburg, Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell, D.H. Lawrence, P.G. Wodehouse, etc. (although some of the lesser-known writers are more interesting). It's the kind of book I like to have around for those lazy Sunday afternoons when I want something to read but not the book I'm currently reading.

Unfortunately, some of the articles I've read so far have missed the mark for me. A few were very interesting (I enjoyed the ones about Edgar Rice Burroughs - I live near Tarzana - and Babe Ruth, as well as A.A. Milne's "autobiography") but most have an overwhelmingly sarcastic tone bordering on caustic, that just left me feeling... turned off. Maybe it's a reflection of the magazine and it's readership - I've never read Vanity Fair but my impression is that it's a higher-class version of People magazine (if such a thing is possible), so perhaps that would explain some of the... shallowness, shall I say? Still, it's kind of interesting in small doses and okay for that occasional lazy day reading.

[Vanessa (V.C.) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of anthology seemed to promise something fun, exciting, and interesting, but with no context as to why these particular essays were chosen, it felt like reading just a bunch of very short stories that range from funny and sassy to boring, dated, and cold. If there was some explanation for what made these particular selections worth reading, it would have made this book feel more cohesive; with us not being in on why we should care or bother, it creates this distance and lack of focus which isn’t good especially for an anthology that goes over 400 pages. Some pieces were fascinating as it gave us a glimpse into the 1920s mindset, but you could only read so many of these articles before they get exhausting, dry, and really repetitive. So much potential, but it needed context and substance, otherwise this would have been a far more entertaining experience.

[Sasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were a handful of essays I enjoyed and a few funny stories, but overall I found the collection a bit lacking, with more sexism and classism than I would like. I feel this collection is valuable mainly as a snippet of literary and cultural history, a way to compare what has changed and what (sadly) hasn't.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a way for me to experience history through the eyes of Vanity Fair contributors during the 1910s, 20s, and 30s. I got a good sense of each era and it was funny how relevant some of the articles were, even though they were written over 100 years ago. Others I had no idea what/who they were referring to. I enjoyed imagining what life might have been like at the time.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something everso magical about finding a book and automatically being drawn to it. I came across "Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells: The Best of Early Vanity Fair" at a used bookstore, and automatically knew it had to be mine. The book is a collection of essays, poems, and other works written between 1913 and 1936. The works are arranged chronologically by decade, and then by individual years.

As someone who loves history, this was an incredible find for me. While history textbooks talk about culture, we never truly get to learn about the opinions felt by society as a whole, nor do we get to hear many individual voices. I have always romanticized the jazz age, and the early 1900s. I have always been nostalgic for the "gatsby era", compelling me to want to truly capture the aura and essence of those years. "Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers, and Swells: The Best of Early Vanity Fair" truly managed to bring all the sentiments of that era to me, so I will be writing about my 3 favorite pieces.

One of my favorite pieces was called "Hippotiquette", written in 1920 by Richard Connell. The piece focuses on how prohibition was a huge blow to society and social life. It describes how "alcohol was really king; it was champagne that we mistook for wit, and cocktails that put in our minds the idea that men were brave and women were beautiful" (Carter 131). The piece then goes on to describe the ways in which people adapted, and came up with ways to invite people over to drink. However, what I found the most interesting, was the way in which it described alcohol as the main driving force for social life, leading me to wonder whether the intoxicant is the alcohol itself, or the culture around it. We learn about the prohibition, and we learn about reformers wanting to make a better world, but we also learn about "scofflaws", and the people who were able to find loopholes around the Voltaire Act. Here we are, 100 years later, in a time where our social life has been taken away from us.

Another piece I loved was called "The High-Low Controversy", written in 1923 by Randolph Dinwidde. This article covers the age-old question of the length of a skirt. Interestingly enough, however, this article is clearly written from an observer's point of view, and clearly states it when describing how his "interest in the matter is purely academic" (Carter 178). Rather than portraying the skirt question as a personal choice, it is portrayed as a societal choice, as in what the average skirt length says about women. Similarly, it is tied into economics, American nationalism, and even public health. American women want their own defining skirt lengths, not influenced by foreign nations. Long skirts were seen as sweeping the sidewalks, picking up disease, and spreading it. Meanwhile, shorter skirts brought a time period with less disease. While correlation does not equate to causation, I found these points to be incredibly interesting. We live in an era where fashion is so diverse, that the length of a skirt no longer defines American culture and identity. This brings me to wonder whether or not individualism is conflicting with the idea of a unified American identity, even though individualism is so strongly ingrained into American culture.

Finally, the one I found the most interesting was a collection of letters, titled "A Western Reunion in Which a Pleasant House Party is Disrupted by Some Marital Jealousies". Even before I began reading these, the title struck me, because this is a story we all know too well. We all know of events that have been ruined due to jealousy, exes, and other issues relating to relationships. We tend to romanticize the past as an ideal, and as an age of perfect relationships, but this collection of letters disproved that theory to me. While I am still unsure if these letters are real, or a work of fiction, some of the exchanges truly made me laugh. For example, a husband sent a letter asking his wife "are you there?" (Carter 252), and his wife simply responded with "no" ( 252). The story hilariously ends with the arguing husbands secretly collaborating to send one of the wives back home. As someone who romanticizes the past so strongly, it struck me to hear how relationship issues that occur nowadays are not something new; they have always existed.

Overall, I loved reading this book. I only briefly talked about a few of my favorite pieces, but there were many other amazing ones. Another personal favorite was one about Calvin Coolidge, hearing cultural perspectives on past presidents is incredibly interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves history, but also to anyone who loves culture and society. There is so much you can learn about our modern day lives and experiences from reading a book like this. My only complaint with the book would be the formatting of the text, rather than being in its original set up, it was only the text. I looked up some of the works to read them in their original format, and it felt like a totally different experience than reading from the book. Nevertheless, the collection is classy and tasteful, and it does an excellent job at telling the stories of early vanity fair.

[Robin Tierney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some great pieces from Vanity Fair's first rendition, 1914-1936, that withstand the test of time, many more that are reflections of their times. Through essays yo experience the intellectual and society scene when Picasso and F. Scott Fitzgerald were contemporary. Many pieces were written in the age when self-perceived sophistication reached a tipping point, particularly in America. Among ones I enjoyed: "what, Exactly, Is Modernism" by Aldous Huxley, "The Education of Harpo Marx" by Alexander Woollcott and Dorothy Parker's snipes on how the office cuts in on her social life. Full of wisdom that continues to be largely ignored: Jay Franklin's "Twilight of the Economic Gods" and David Cort's wise observations in "A Stock Market Post-Mortem" -- written months after the 1929 Wall Street crash, its lessons, in future decades, submerged in the tides of restored prosperity and the glare of optimism obscuring signs of future market collapses.

I didn't enjoy the earlier years' articles as much as the 1930s selections.

Some notes taken while reading:

"The Education of Harpo Marx" Alexander Woollcott ...harp lessons, 2 songs, 5 sons....

If You are Going to Antibes...such Riviera fauna [namedrop Rebecca West, Scott Fitzgerald] are sufficiently docketed in his mind. But Harpo Marx? What had he written?"

"A Stock Market Post-Mortem" David Cort 1930...observations in about the 1929 Wall Street panic:
Newspapers were compelled to underplay it. If they had reproduced starkly the utter bottomlessness of the thing, anything might have happen. It was an economic obligation that they should understate, that they should insert the qualifying word of hop and good cheer.
It was a longer ride down than anyone had expected. Bump after anticlimactic bump shook off the few grim survivors. Everyone was pretty bored with it long before it was over. At last realism had its day. By word of mouth went the rumours of the failures and the suicides.
(Investors, businesspeople) He does not admit that pure chance is the controlling factor He does not admit it, that is to say, unless his stock goes down. In that case he lays it to bad luck, not to poor judgment. But if it goes up, that is good judgment. Although it sounds silly and perverse, the credo is simple enough and it has an integrity of its own.But during the past years in the United States it has been augmented by another premise. In such a great and prosperous country the small speculator has felt that he is underwriting America's prosperity when he buys ten shares of so-and-so on margin. He has conceived of himself as riding along with his country on a wave of unlimited prosperity.
Watched the common stock of United States Steel Corporation, one of the strongest and wealthiest companies anywhere in the world, tumble over 100 points...Westinghouse...GE...Montgomery Ward.... The gilt-edge stocks of the world crumpled in value at a time of uninterrupted and in some cases mounting prosperity...assurances business was "sound conditions "healthy" had been published.....
.....(people forced into financial revolt)...Like the skeletons of dead coral that pile one on another and in a mass anonymity make their totality feet so the total of this despairing selling raised its head for a terrible hour above the smooth surface of American prosperity and optimism.
But, whatever the beginnings, the end involved the reversal, perhaps the destruction, of several principles inherent in the current American social hierarchy. America is a capitalistic country, but it is unique among capitalistic countries in that the rewards and the responsibilities of its industries have been more and more widely distributed among the small investors. The "big fellows" made at least a pretense of deferring to the wishes of the thousand small stockholders. The 1929 panic to a large degree eliminated these small people and returned the vast majority of ownership to the professional capitalists and traders. This development alone is absorbingly interesting from the sociological point of view, but there is another and perhaps more vital consequence of the catastrophe. From the beginning of time, in all forms of society, humanity has reposed its faith in the absolute necessity of conservatism. But part of the secret by which America has so magnificently exploited its industrial pre-eminence in the world today has resided in its lack of conservatism in the financial (not the social) sense. The American method has been to use capital two or three times over simultaneously, to keep the ball always in the air, to make capital dynamic, not static.
Those who recanted, who sold out and are bankrupt, have already been forgotten. Wall Street wants fresh money, fresh optimists.
The "small people" demonstrated again that, together, they can do anything, but in this instance they only ruined one another.

"Twilight of the Economic Gods" Jay Franklin 1931 addresses ignored potentialities that become reality: reparations one-way on Germany, trade block on Russia in response to its socialist adventurer (huge market..."assured the future enmity of the most incalculable people on the face of the modern globe") and helter-skelter China ("the most numerous and industrial race"). Banker errors. Economic leaders acted as if nothing had any existence which was not purely financial. There were no racial animosities, no political problems, no diplomatic arrangements or historical traditions, no conflicts of culture or clash of systems: nothing but loans, currencies, trade balance and risks.

"What, Exactly, is Modern?" Aldous Huxley, May 1925 Vanity Fair
There is a great difference between mere fashionableness or contemporaneity on the one hand and modernity of the other. For things and ideas which were fashionable in the past may become fashionable again (fashions come and go...a thing may be fashionable without necessarily being modern) But it would be absurd to call any one of them modern merely because it happens to be in vogue at the particular moment when you are speaking. Only that which is really new, which has no counterpart in antiquity, is modern. Thus, our mechanical civilization, with the conditions of life and the ideas begotten by it are modern. But sexual promiscuity is not modern at all, it is a very ancient and anachronistic habit which happens, at the moment and in certain limited circles, to be fashionable.
Among contemporary musicians Schoenberg my be regarded as modern for unlike the fashionably atavistic Stravinsky, he is doing something which our savage ancestors could not do - appealing to the intellect and the spirit, no to the primary emotions and nerves. Schoenberg, though not, perhaps, a greatly inspired artist, is at any rate moving forward in the direction of all human development - towards more and more mind and spirit. Stravinsky is going backwards, away from mind, toward physiology. Dada odd, not new.

The blasphemies in Ulysses are precisely like those of Marlowe in the sixteenth century and the grossnesses are those of a Father of the Church, who, having emerged from his hermitage, enlarges on the horrors of the sin-ridden wold. None of these literary manifestations are modern.

Though dying in 1881, Dostoievsky [Dostoevsky]. His subtlety, his sensitiveness, his intelligence and comprehension remain unsurpassed and hardly approached. It may be hoped, even be expected, that, in the course of evolution, the mass of human beings will grow to be as intelligent, as deeply and as widely comprehending, as exquisitely sensitive as was Dostoievksy. He was so excessively and abnormally modern that it will probably be several centuries before the rest of us have come abreast with him.

Let us ot abuse a very useful and significant word by applying it indiscriminately to everything that happens to be contemporary.

"The Babe" by Paul Gallico 1932. Babe Ruth: Slambino, golem-like figure, the single biggest attraction in the world of sports. There are some men to whom has been given the faculty of living all of their lives in newsprint. They have a natural attraction for headlines. These are very apt to become our heroes. Swore off drinking after Sen. Jimmy Walker told her he owed it to the boys of the nation to behave himself. Tears rolled down his enormous face. He reformed.
The man is a hero out of Horatio Alger...He rose from Rags to Riches.Slums of Baltimore, orphan, went to a reform school, natural athlete. At 20, Jack Dunn drafted him, hold to Boston Red Sox where his rise to fame was almost instantaneous as a pitcher and not, curiously enough, as a great slugger and outfielder.
(Famous here because "we are a democratic nation.")

Bootleggers - Dalton Trumbo:
Smart business. Dedicated clientele. Police little time for snooping. Low expenditures, biggest for beet sugar. Distillers. Jobbers. Tapped power lines so not attract attention. Aging process. The distiller's art.

The Jimmy Walker Era by Alva Johnston 1932. NY politics. Led Tammany's Dance of the Tax-payers' Millions. Made money into the crash, then politically dead. A personality, so popular, an Everyman. Wisecracks spitfire. Hundred of thousands firmly believe that they are among Jimmy's closest friends. Before, to rise in NY politics, a man must be either Puritanical or cautious. (Teddy Roosevelt liquor law enforcement.) State Senator gave NY Sunday baseball and Sunday movies defeated crusade to censor books. He is the one conspicuous politician in America who came out flat-footedly in favor of the return of the saloon. Walker Act re-est prize-fighting after the reformers had abolished it. Mayor: embodied NY and nation's growing dislike of Prohibition and Puritanism. Champion of a man's right to be himself. His life was an antiseptic against hypocrisy...a whiff of insecticide to snoopers, sniffers, wowsers, informers, meddlers and all similar canaille. But mingled his private finances with those of interests seeking important favors from NYC. Revolt of overtaxed real estate ended his era.

That ultimate encomium: She was once a Follies Girl.

Bonnie Parker minted the role of gunman's moll.

The groundbreaking marketing extensions of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan franchise.

Paris executioner: people want to dine with judges, jury, lawyers, but not with him.

[vaanireads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great coffee table book. While reading this collection of articles, I felt like I was traveling back in time. These specific articles truly gave me insight of what life was like before WWll. As I read articles about the Great Depression it felt more authentic than reading about in a history book at school.

My favorite articles were “Are Odd Women Really Odd?” by Hyman Strunsky, “Men: A Hate Song” by Dorothy Rothschild Parker, and the poem “Four Sonnets” by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

I especially enjoyed all of the articles written by Dorothy Rothschild Parker. They so were entertaining and fun. Dorothy seems like a person I would really get along with. Too bad she is most likely dead.

The reason I did not rate this book higher is because many articles honesty bored me. But there were still great articles in this collection.

[Jwt Jan50 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimers: I only read about 50% of the articles; did the speed read on about 25%. Some interesting insights re 'Odd Women,' expected much more from Dorothy Parker and just a little surprised at D. H. Lawrence's take on women. Dreiser pretty much misses out on the negative potential for any 'one party system' in writing on Soviet Russia. Not the only one with their 'head in the sand' on that one in the late 20's and 30's - fascism all the 'rage' in Italy. Wondering if these were really the best choices or if Carter went for name/topic recognition? It's worth a look, but I would encourage a quick read of the 2 and 3* reviews before you plunge in too far. Some of the articles, like the one on Cole Porter, are really pretty shallow.

[Annu · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting time capsule, but rather than just copy-pasting the text into a book I wish there had been some footnotes explaining things. I could find most of these essays on the Vanity Fair website in the same state they're in the book. I think the only one was explaining that "Hun" was a term for German pilots, but the rest of the book really needed explanations in many spots too.

I liked the first essay the best and there were several fun ones and Dorothy Parker's poems are great, but overall it was an interesting thing to check out from the library but not something I'd going to recommend to others.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tastemakers at the time write definitively on the who’s who of New York. A reflection on culture… who are today’s ‘tastemakers’ with the death of the monoculture and social media journalism? At times some pieces had too many references to make heads or tails of the value in 2024… yet others still seem relevant or reflective on how we now conceive of the early 20th century the piece is poignant. Some I enjoyed most were: “I like Americans - they are so ridiculous” by Edna St Vincent Millay, “what exactly is modern?” By Aldous Huxley, and “A western reunion” by Geoffrey Kerr.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't read all of it, just the profiles, essays, poetry, and stories I thought I'd find interesting.
4 stars, as I have no doubt the editors were judicious and careful about what to include as a time capsule, but I read maybe 65% of it. Some of the prose was drier than expected (e.g. Stephen Leacock, Douglas Fairbanks), and some more alluring (Paul Gallico's profile on Babe Ruth, Aldous Huxley's essay on Modern).

[Kristin Boldon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received as a gift a few years ago. This would be good as a bathroom book--some of the pieces were fun, but the overall to e of arch commentary on the foibles of the rich left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Dean Jobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to everything Jazz Age, through a collection of articles from 1914 - 1936 by everyone who was anyone -- from F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dorothy Parker to Walter Winchell and Clarence Darrow.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The articles that are good are the ones that are still of interest irrespective of the fact that they refer to long past events. The less appealing are the ones may have found favour in their time but have now lost the ability to engage the modern reader.

[Elena Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Amusing at first, but overall a surprisingly uninspiring read. Some pieces were repetitive in style and tone, and I could not finish the book.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some things are AMAZING, some are duds, but fun overall

[Erinn Maddox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and eclectic collection of essays. A perfect coffee shop read.

[Abbie Macdonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem is that I went into reading this as if it were a novel, therefore, I was let down by it. Not poorly written (mostly), but in my opinion a waste of time - wouldn’t recommend.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Dayva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but doesn't always translate well into this century. I pretty much expected that. All in all, it's just an okay read.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think some were included just to add another name to the list.

[Judy Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A special thank you to Penguin First to Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vanity Fair, the modern and dazzling magazine of the Jazz Age—and celebration of its 100th anniversary, delivers a remarkable anthology from 1913 to 1936, showcasing an impressive lineup of the “best of the best” creative and talented literary icons of this era.

The Golden Age is so exciting and glamorous as well as tragic. From the highs to the lows—of the Roaring 20’s, the glitz, wealth, fashion, art, music, romance, sports, nightlife to the depression, addiction, drugs, stock crash, war, suffrage and Prohibition.

As a lover of this era, and Gatsby, am quite intrigued and fascinated with the legendary writers (especially F. Scott Fitzgerald and T.S. Eliot) and other contributors which captured the essence of this time; an adventure, and a changing era as we relive a time rich in history.

Bohemians, Bootleggers, Flappers and Swells: The Best of Vanity Fair offers an impressive lineup of contributors as well a collection of poems, essays, and profiles broken down by year for a thought-provoking read, not to rush, but to ponder and reflect.

An absorbing read for literary lovers everywhere, and those who appreciate the talents, humor, and insights (even cynical, controversial, and scandalous at times) of those courageous enough to convey their thoughts, dreams, and hopes for a better future. The collection is well laid out, with a brief summary of each contributor at the end.

I am enjoying many of the new books out today exploring and capturing the details of important times and commentary of historic authors with "books about books", and "books about writers"; with new insights into the depth of their writing to create awareness and meaning for this generation and those to follow.

A beautifully packaged and entertaining collection of the finest pieces and topics in the Jazz Age. Vanity Fair, a magazine predicting which cultural forces would leave a lasting mark, and pushing boundaries from men’s rites to women’s rights, to the destructive fascination with the entertainment industry and our addiction to organized sports.

Seventy-two of which are collected, focusing on how Americans, especially New Yorkers in confronting the Machine Age, radical art, urbanization, communism, Fascism, globalization (epitomized by a World War), and the battle of the sexes, were coping with the growing pains of a new phenomenon: modern life. Well Done!

Judith D. Collins Must Read Books

[Angie Reisetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of essays, short stories, and poems, etc, from Vanity Fair from about 1913 to 1937 or so. Some of them really spoke of the time. Some of them could have been written at many points in our history, including now. Together they make a convincing portrait of America, or at least New York or American intellectuals, during that time.

There were two essays that were standouts for me, hilarious and poignant, and applicable as much today as in the 1910s. The amazing first essay in the collection by P.G Wodehouse laments how people who do exercise and diet each day become bores, entirely too energetic and forever wanting us to participate in the miracle of whatever they've found. I laughed out loud, and that one essay is worth the price of the whole book, I think. But Stephen Leacock's "Are the Rich Happy?" essay had all the entertainment of Wodehouse's with the added element of serious social commentary. His conclusion was that it was difficult to determine the answer to this question since he couldn't find anyone who said they were rich. Everyone knows of someone else who is rich, but no matter how much money anyone has, they find it difficult to keep up with the rich. This one might be even more applicable today than it was then. Very well-written and insightful.

Throughout the 3 decades included, there seemed to be a great deal of energy expended in figuring out what women are. Are they odd? Do they earn money and do they need to vote? What does being a modern woman mean? Should they have to defend not being married? Are liberated women ruining everything, starting with old-fashioned barber shops? (Imagine a woman wanting her hair cut!) And above all, we learn that Dorothy Rothschild (Parker) hates everyone and everything.

The essays, especially from the 1920s, examine America's developing culture, for the first time being compared to Europe's and found to be ahead in some ways. The historical perspective is intriguing. There are, of course, several essays on economics included from the 1930s, which I personally found a bit of a yawn, except that they did in some ways echo a lot of the economic punditry that has gone on in our times since 2008.

All around a really good read and excellent collection.

I got a copy of this ebbok from the First to Read program.

[Walt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best of early Vanity Fair is a seemingly random assortment of essays and other writings ca. 1915-1940. The topics include Bohemians, bootleggers, flappers, and swells; but they are by no means the focus of the collection. Each of these topics has about one short chapter. Consequently, the book is full of a wide range of topics from the era, so much more than bootleggers and flappers.

In fact, the other stuff overshadow the marque credits. The chapter on bootleggers is near the end of the book. Short fiction dominates the book. Even the chapters on Bohemians and swells are basically fiction, a sort of historical or satirical fiction.

The collection is diverse; but it does not illustrate why they represent the best of early Vanity Fair. Even in his introduction Carter does not clearly state why he selected the pieces that he includes in the book. Some of them, such as those commenting on the Depression, are repetitive, making his selections more questionable. Many of the readings refer to socio-cultural phenomena unknown to me, further questioning why Carter chose to include them with next to no explanations.

Overall, it was tiring to get through this book. The selections are good in showing upscale American culture of the era, but not much more than that. Most of the time I was wondering about Carter's selection process. It appeared to me that he made selections based on the fame of the contributor. He has many famous authors in the collection. If readers are curious about the era, this may not be an appropriate book. Not only does the prose cover many topics, but without further discussion and analysis, they are just simple stories. Readers should already have substantial knowledge about the era in order to learn more about it from this book.