Marty

Marty Warren #1

by Elisa Bialk

The story of a girl reporter- whose career for an eighteen year old, is well nigh unbelievable. Cute, red-haired Marty lives in a Chicago suburb. She's a champion golfer and just after a splendid senior year in highschool, wins a local tournament and is subsequently sent by a big Chicago newspaper, The Express to do feature stories from the amateur's viewpoint, for a national tournament in the east. At home again, the paper hires her for rewrites. Then she's promoted to general reporting, but an inexcusable failure to get a story about a movie star gets her demoted to copy girl- from which position she is again promoted by writing a convincing feature story on the sly. A police beat is our Marty's next job. On it, she solves a murder mystery and lays plans for a new boys' club in the district. Meanwhile, Marty's also had three romances, but finally ends up with the nice, serious boy, and they make plans for college before returning to journalism.

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

Reviews

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this old vintage copy of "Marty" by Elisa Bialk at my friend Marty's cabin (ironic, right?). Because I'm an 85 year old woman trapped in a 27 year old gay man's body, I was super excited to read it. I'm a sucker for those corny ole' vintage books that take you to the past. It's just different than a lot of the fluff that is out there right now. I mean, this stuff is fluff too, but in a whole different caliber. Vintage fluff is like cotton candy, while current fluff is like a cotton ball. Ok, I swear I'm not high.

I couldn't help but smile all the way through "Marty". It wasn't memorable, and nothing major ever really happens in the plot, but it is just a perfect snippet of 1950's culture. The descriptions, slang, and daily life of the characters in the book painted a realistic snapshot of what daily life was like in the 1950's.

Marty is a perfect 17 year old. She succeeded academically in high school, is a tip-top athlete (a junior girls gold pro, gee whiz!, has a hot-shot job as an amateur reporter, and is a loyal daughter who doesn't drink or kiss on the first date! This book basically follows Marty in her first half-year out of high school. We learn all about her gold career and friendly rival with the talented Monica, her ups and downs as a reporter, and her torn feelings between superstar golfer Don, and down-to-earth boxer Jim. Again, nothing major ever happens in the plot (except for a little sleuthing towards the end), it is just peachy fluff.

"Marty" is never dull, but it isn't a masterpiece. It's just a quick read and a glimpse of the post-war baby boom. Fun little ditty to pick up if you ever see it at a thrift store or something.

[Qt · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I loved this book and thought it had a good, well-developed heroine. The plot turned out to be a little different than I expected it (I thought it would all be a sort of lightweight school romance) but I didn't mind!

[Benedict Reid · Rating 1 out of 5]

A messy book which was really interesting as an historical record of the expectations and job descriptions of woman Newspaper reporters in the 50s. Facinating sexual politics and a story that only really gets going in the last 60 pages.