What do you think?
Rate this book
Dear Pussycat: Mash Notes and Missives from the Desk of Cosmopolitan's Legendary Editor
Dear Pussycat:
Some of us find it easier to say in a letter whatever it is we want to express -- love, rage, outrage, affection, resentment, enthusiasm, a request to do a chore -- than we do person to person or even phone to phone. I've been writing letters, somewhat successfully I think, since I was eight years old. I got President Franklin Roosevelt to write to my wheelchair-bound (from polio) sister by dropping him a line at the White House. Some of my letters don't quite make it, of course -- trying to get New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger to fire his vicious play reviewer Frank Rich who tore apart my husband's perfectly fine play, A Few Good Men. He wouldn't do it -- no recourse but to write the reviewer himself, "Dear Frank, you bastard! etc." I've thanked designer Emilio Pucci for turning small bust and big hips into goddess stature with whammo fabric and genius engineering, kept a few beloved employees from jumping ship or into the river with careful flattery, consoled the grieving. Wouldn't you like to see a little collection of my best, meanest and happiest notes that reflect a pretty fascinating New York life, a career they don't make many like, love and friendship with junior high school buddies and a few razzle-dazzle celebrities? Okay...if you like good old-fashioned staying-in-touch by correspondence, here they are!
Helen Gurley Brown
Some of us find it easier to say in a letter whatever it is we want to express -- love, rage, outrage, affection, resentment, enthusiasm, a request to do a chore -- than we do person to person or even phone to phone. I've been writing letters, somewhat successfully I think, since I was eight years old. I got President Franklin Roosevelt to write to my wheelchair-bound (from polio) sister by dropping him a line at the White House. Some of my letters don't quite make it, of course -- trying to get New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger to fire his vicious play reviewer Frank Rich who tore apart my husband's perfectly fine play, A Few Good Men. He wouldn't do it -- no recourse but to write the reviewer himself, "Dear Frank, you bastard! etc." I've thanked designer Emilio Pucci for turning small bust and big hips into goddess stature with whammo fabric and genius engineering, kept a few beloved employees from jumping ship or into the river with careful flattery, consoled the grieving. Wouldn't you like to see a little collection of my best, meanest and happiest notes that reflect a pretty fascinating New York life, a career they don't make many like, love and friendship with junior high school buddies and a few razzle-dazzle celebrities? Okay...if you like good old-fashioned staying-in-touch by correspondence, here they are!
Helen Gurley Brown
- GenresBiography Memoir
368 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Helen Gurley Brown
29 books52 followersHelen Gurley Brown, is an author, publisher, and businesswoman. She was editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for 32 years.
Brown's father died in an elevator accident when she was young, and her sister was a polio victim. She was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas.
From 1939 to 1941 she attended Texas State College for Women and Woodbury Business College.
After a stint in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency, she went to work for a prominent advertising agency as a secretary. Her employer recognized her writing skills and moved her to the copywriting department where she advanced rapidly to become one of the nation's highest paid ad copywriters in the early 1960s. In 1959 she married David Brown who was producer of Jaws, The Sting, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, and other motion pictures.
In 1962, at the age of 40, Brown authored the bestselling book Sex and the Single Girl. In 1965 she became editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and reversed the fortunes of the failing magazine. During the decade of the 1960s she was an outspoken advocate of women's sexual freedom and sought to provide them with role-models and a guide in her magazine. Brown claimed that women could have it all, "love, sex, and money". Due to her advocacy, the liberated single woman was often referred to generically as the "Cosmo Girl". Her work played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution.
In the mid 1990s Brown was ousted from her role as the US editor of Cosmopolitan and was replaced by Bonnie Fuller. However, Brown stayed on at Hearst publishing and remains the international editor for all 59 international editions of Cosmo.
Brown's father died in an elevator accident when she was young, and her sister was a polio victim. She was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas.
From 1939 to 1941 she attended Texas State College for Women and Woodbury Business College.
After a stint in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency, she went to work for a prominent advertising agency as a secretary. Her employer recognized her writing skills and moved her to the copywriting department where she advanced rapidly to become one of the nation's highest paid ad copywriters in the early 1960s. In 1959 she married David Brown who was producer of Jaws, The Sting, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, and other motion pictures.
In 1962, at the age of 40, Brown authored the bestselling book Sex and the Single Girl. In 1965 she became editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and reversed the fortunes of the failing magazine. During the decade of the 1960s she was an outspoken advocate of women's sexual freedom and sought to provide them with role-models and a guide in her magazine. Brown claimed that women could have it all, "love, sex, and money". Due to her advocacy, the liberated single woman was often referred to generically as the "Cosmo Girl". Her work played a part in what is often called the sexual revolution.
In the mid 1990s Brown was ousted from her role as the US editor of Cosmopolitan and was replaced by Bonnie Fuller. However, Brown stayed on at Hearst publishing and remains the international editor for all 59 international editions of Cosmo.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 21, 2024
I couldn't get into this book.. It may have made better sense if the letters were in order by date and would have been easier to follow.
December 10, 2015
I bought this because I like reading peoples' letters and journals, but couldn't get through it. Perhaps if the letters had been in date order it would have made more sense, but it felt disjointed having to read them by category. I had a hard time finding any purpose to finishing all of the letters.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews