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The Salamander
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
- GenresFiction
Library Binding
First published January 1, 1914
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About the author
Owen Johnson
39 books7 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Owen McMahon Johnson was an American writer best remembered for his stories and novels cataloguing the educational and personal growth of the fictional character Dink Stover. The "Lawrenceville Stories" (The Prodigious Hickey, The Tennessee Shad, The Varmint, Skippy Bedelle, The Hummingbird), set in the well-known prep school, invite comparison with Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co. A 1950 film, The Happy Years, and a 1987 PBS mini-series, The Lawrenceville Stories, were based on them.
Owen McMahon Johnson was an American writer best remembered for his stories and novels cataloguing the educational and personal growth of the fictional character Dink Stover. The "Lawrenceville Stories" (The Prodigious Hickey, The Tennessee Shad, The Varmint, Skippy Bedelle, The Hummingbird), set in the well-known prep school, invite comparison with Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co. A 1950 film, The Happy Years, and a 1987 PBS mini-series, The Lawrenceville Stories, were based on them.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 21, 2012
In reading Zelda FItzgerald's biography, this book came up as one that had been influential in her life at the time she met F. Scott (just after finishing high school), so I was interested in getting more background and read it. Also - it's free for e-readers since it's now in the public domain.
It takes place in NYC in the flapper age (current then) and revolves around the storyline of Dodo and her other "salamander" friends. They support themselves through taking advantage of/capitalizing on male affection. The idea is that they are so sought after (the life of the party, really beautiful, flirty) that men are falling all over themselves to take them to dinner and buy them flowers and a plethora of other gifts. Through selling these gifts (often back to the original sellers), the girls earn their keep - live in their own apartment and have what they consider independence. They have multiple (fake) birthdays a year (for more gifts/income) and need to keep track of which man thinks their birthday is which day. They keep all of these suitors on the edge so that none ever feel secure or as if they've "won" and the men are constantly vying. The women are not truly emotionally attached/in love with any of them, or that's the idea. To be beholden to nothing and no one.
Although all of this sounds very base and shallow, the book actually does have some depth in approaching the subject of male hierarchy in society and the resulting compromise of a woman's freedom. Although these girls think and appear to be the power players, the fact is, it's the men with the money. So in the end they were somewhat beholden to all.
When this thought is made clear to the main character, she considers her limited choices. All of them involve being at the mercy of men, whether she is working for one, married to one, mistress to one, or carrying on with them supporting her as present. And she chooses the option where there is the most security.
It takes place in NYC in the flapper age (current then) and revolves around the storyline of Dodo and her other "salamander" friends. They support themselves through taking advantage of/capitalizing on male affection. The idea is that they are so sought after (the life of the party, really beautiful, flirty) that men are falling all over themselves to take them to dinner and buy them flowers and a plethora of other gifts. Through selling these gifts (often back to the original sellers), the girls earn their keep - live in their own apartment and have what they consider independence. They have multiple (fake) birthdays a year (for more gifts/income) and need to keep track of which man thinks their birthday is which day. They keep all of these suitors on the edge so that none ever feel secure or as if they've "won" and the men are constantly vying. The women are not truly emotionally attached/in love with any of them, or that's the idea. To be beholden to nothing and no one.
Although all of this sounds very base and shallow, the book actually does have some depth in approaching the subject of male hierarchy in society and the resulting compromise of a woman's freedom. Although these girls think and appear to be the power players, the fact is, it's the men with the money. So in the end they were somewhat beholden to all.
When this thought is made clear to the main character, she considers her limited choices. All of them involve being at the mercy of men, whether she is working for one, married to one, mistress to one, or carrying on with them supporting her as present. And she chooses the option where there is the most security.
November 15, 2019
This book tells the story of Dore (not her real name) and her fellow salamanders, young girls traipsing around New York and keeping multiple men on the string. They obtain pricey presents and then pawn or sell them to keep themselves afloat. At first glance, it looks like they have the upper-hand, but male-dominated society still controls their future. A girl can't play the game too long, or else she'll lose any possible choice.
Zelda Fitzgerald read this book as a young girl, and one can easily see it had some influence on her.
Zelda Fitzgerald read this book as a young girl, and one can easily see it had some influence on her.
December 3, 2022
We follow the adventures of party girl Dore 'Dodo' Baxter in the concrete jungle of New York City. Considering when this was published I'm going to hazard a guess the book was sort of scandalous in its day as it presents young single girls living away from home and hobnobbing with men they aren't married to. As a main character, Dodo is too flighty, erratic and immature for me. In short, she got on my nerves. There were several secondary characters who were much more interesting. I wanted to follow their stories instead of Dodo's.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews