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I'm Wild Again: Snippets from My Life and a Few Brazen Thoughts
The former editorinchief of Cosmopolitan discusses her rise to the top, from working in the secretary pool to her current post as head of the magazine's international sections, sharing her thoughts on life, romance, work, sex, style, and writing. Original.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
4 people are currently reading
73 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.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 26, 2011
My first introduction to Helen Gurley Brown (HGB) was through the excellent biography by Jennifer Scanlon. So I was very curious to read HGB's memoir published in 2000 when she was 78.
The subtitle of I'm Wild Again is 'Snippets from my Life and a few Brazen Thoughts'. It describes rather well the structure of this book: a series of short essays (no more than four pages long and most of the time as short as 10 lines) collected in the following chapters:
Snippets from my life / Sex, Affection / Emotions / Parents / Friends / Work / Looks, Age, Health / Food, Diet / David [her husband] / Travel / Smattering and Spattering / Can we get any of these FIXED? / Advice - Just a tiny touch / Letter to my Daughter
Each chapter is very entertaining. The style is chatty and anecdotal but the language is precise and the words always well chosen. I haven't (yet) read other books by her but, from what I gathered, this is her trademark writing style.
In this book you will learn about her childhood in Little Rock, Arizona, her career from 17 secretarial jobs to writing the (for then) explosive Sex and the Single Girl and, later, over 30 years running Cosmopolitan. She will walk you through her affairs with married men, several face lifts, breast implants and her fight against breast cancer, just to cite a few highlights. HGB is well known for her pro-choice position, as well as her openness towards female homosexuality (not a given as she was born in the 20s...) and you will read about that, too.
Of all the juicy material, the one that appealed the less to me was the first chapter where she reveals major and minor events of her life. For biographical information I found Scanlon's work much better.
Also, some of her 'brazen thoughts' might sound nowadays out of touch so it is important to remember her background: she's a child of the Great Depression who entered adulthood during the Post-World War II baby boom. So yes she has a very scrimp-and-save mentality and sometimes it's hard to understand how she could sanction 'sex in the office' or having affairs with married men. I don't agree with her on these poins but I can see how it worked out very well for her. From a young age, she had decided to work the system rather than change it, manipulating the rules that men wrote rather than attempting to rewrite the rules altogether.
But let's not forget that she was the one creating COSMO as we know it today, and that her thoughts have shaped the opinions of millions of women!
What more should I tell you? I just loved the book. I guess I am just one of these Cosmo Girls....
The subtitle of I'm Wild Again is 'Snippets from my Life and a few Brazen Thoughts'. It describes rather well the structure of this book: a series of short essays (no more than four pages long and most of the time as short as 10 lines) collected in the following chapters:
Snippets from my life / Sex, Affection / Emotions / Parents / Friends / Work / Looks, Age, Health / Food, Diet / David [her husband] / Travel / Smattering and Spattering / Can we get any of these FIXED? / Advice - Just a tiny touch / Letter to my Daughter
Each chapter is very entertaining. The style is chatty and anecdotal but the language is precise and the words always well chosen. I haven't (yet) read other books by her but, from what I gathered, this is her trademark writing style.
In this book you will learn about her childhood in Little Rock, Arizona, her career from 17 secretarial jobs to writing the (for then) explosive Sex and the Single Girl and, later, over 30 years running Cosmopolitan. She will walk you through her affairs with married men, several face lifts, breast implants and her fight against breast cancer, just to cite a few highlights. HGB is well known for her pro-choice position, as well as her openness towards female homosexuality (not a given as she was born in the 20s...) and you will read about that, too.
Of all the juicy material, the one that appealed the less to me was the first chapter where she reveals major and minor events of her life. For biographical information I found Scanlon's work much better.
Also, some of her 'brazen thoughts' might sound nowadays out of touch so it is important to remember her background: she's a child of the Great Depression who entered adulthood during the Post-World War II baby boom. So yes she has a very scrimp-and-save mentality and sometimes it's hard to understand how she could sanction 'sex in the office' or having affairs with married men. I don't agree with her on these poins but I can see how it worked out very well for her. From a young age, she had decided to work the system rather than change it, manipulating the rules that men wrote rather than attempting to rewrite the rules altogether.
But let's not forget that she was the one creating COSMO as we know it today, and that her thoughts have shaped the opinions of millions of women!
What more should I tell you? I just loved the book. I guess I am just one of these Cosmo Girls....
March 15, 2007
yo this bitch is crazy but she's so honest. If I could meet anyone in the world it would be HGB.
October 25, 2024
Mrs. Brown tells her story but it is uncomfortable to read. Totally "IN" to the free lifestyle of the 60's, she dispenses "advice" that is both wrong and littered with hidden dangers for young people. There were too many unsavory details. I could not UN-recommend this book more.
November 26, 2013
This old broad admits that she was never a great beauty but used what she did have...brains, ambition and the place betwixt her legs. She was obsessive with her thrift the complete opposite of her husband movie producer David Brown who would tip 50% of restaurant tabs to Helen's chagrin.
I sat opposite this iconic couple on a NYC bus. David was ever dapper and Helen was painfully thin with wispy hairs on her head. She could see the recognition in my eyes and smiled politely.
RIP HGB
I sat opposite this iconic couple on a NYC bus. David was ever dapper and Helen was painfully thin with wispy hairs on her head. She could see the recognition in my eyes and smiled politely.
RIP HGB
May 17, 2007
She's crazy and funny and sexy.
Read
June 5, 2012Never been much of a fan of Cosmo, or Helen Gurley Brown, but this one went on my to-read list after it was mentioned in an article on Mad Men's Joan.
July 26, 2016
A hilarious, witty, and informative book! The last part of the book 'a letter to my daughter,' is terrific advice for any woman!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews