Flapper
A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern
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Narrated by:
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Daniella Rabbani
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By:
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Joshua Zeitz
About this listen
Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920's puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture. Whisking us from the Alabama country club where Zelda Sayre first caught the eye of F. Scott Fitzgerald to Muncie, Indiana, where would-be flappers begged their mothers for silk stockings, to the Manhattan speakeasies where patrons partied till daybreak, historian Joshua Zeitz brings the era to exhilarating life.
This is the story of America’s first sexual revolution, its first merchants of cool, its first celebrities, and its most sparkling advertisement for the right to pursue happiness. The men and women who made the flapper were a diverse lot. There was Coco Chanel, the French orphan who redefined the feminine form and silhouette, helping to free women from the torturous corsets and crinolines that had served as tools of social control. In California, where orange groves gave way to studio lots and fairytale mansions, three of America’s first celebrities - Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, and Louise Brooks - Hollywood’s great flapper triumvirate - fired the imaginations of millions of filmgoers. Towering above all were Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, whose swift ascent and spectacular fall embodied the glamour and excess of the era that would come to an abrupt end on Black Tuesday, when the stock market collapsed and rendered the age of abundance and frivolity instantly obsolete.
With its heady cocktail of storytelling and big ideas, Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who launched the first truly modern decade.
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Historian Joshua Zeitz gives us over 11 hours of stories, facts, and fun about the women of the roaring '20s in America. From the first words of the introduction, listeners will realize that this is no dry history lesson. Daniella Rabbani's raspy voice is so friendly and personable it is more like listening to a friend with a fabulous repertoire of stories up her sleeve.
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When Paris Sizzled
- The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends
- By: Mary McAuliffe
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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When Paris Sizzled vividly portrays the City of Light during the fabulous 1920s, les Annees folles, when Parisians emerged from the horrors of war to find that a new world greeted them - one that reverberated with the hard metallic clang of the assembly line, the roar of automobiles, and the beat of jazz. Mary McAuliffe traces a decade that saw seismic change on almost every front, from art and architecture to music, literature, fashion, entertainment, transportation, and, most notably, behavior.
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Informative, but no sizzle
- By OzEnigma on 06-01-17
By: Mary McAuliffe
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Labor of Love
- The Invention of Dating
- By: Moira Weigel
- Narrated by: Kyra Miller
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Weaving together over 100 years of history with scenes from the contemporary landscape, Labor of Love offers a fresh feminist perspective on how we came to date the ways we do. This isn't a guide to "getting the guy". There are no ridiculous "rules" to follow. Instead Weigel helps us understand how looking for love shapes who we are and hopefully leads us closer to the happy ending that dating promises.
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Not Meant To Be Useful, But Quite Fun
- By Gillian on 02-14-17
By: Moira Weigel
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Furious Love
- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century
- By: Sam Kashner, Nancy Schoenberger
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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He was a tough-guy Welshman softened by the affections of a breathtakingly beautiful woman; she was a modern-day Cleopatra madly in love with her own Mark Antony. For nearly a quarter of a century, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were Hollywood royalty, and their fiery romance - often called "the marriage of the century" - was the most notorious, publicized, and celebrated love affair of its day.
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Paul Boehmer needs more practice
- By Brenda Miller on 06-16-10
By: Sam Kashner, and others
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Meghan: A Hollywood Princess
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Charles Armstrong
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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From Andrew Morton, the New York Times best-selling author of Diana: Her True Story, comes a revealing, juicy, and inspiring biography of Meghan Markle, the American actress who won Prince Harry's heart. When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set up by a mutual friend on a blind date in July 2016, little did they know that the resulting whirlwind romance would lead to their engagement in November 2017 and marriage in May 2018. Since then, our fascination with the woman who has smashed the royal mold has rocketed.
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Book offers no new material
- By Jean on 04-24-18
By: Andrew Morton
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Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
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Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
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Outlaw Marriages
- The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples
- By: Rodger Streitmatter
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than a century before gay marriage became a hot-button political issue, same-sex unions flourished in America. Pairs of men and pairs of women joined together in committed unions, standing by each other "for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health" for periods of 30 or 40 - sometimes as many as 50 - years. In short, they loved and supported each other every bit as much as any husband and wife. In Outlaw Marriages, cultural historian Rodger Streitmatter reveals how some of these unions didn’t merely improve the quality of life for the two people involved but also enriched the American culture.
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Sames Sex Couples Through History
- By Susie on 12-11-12
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And So It Goes
- Kurt Vonnegut: A Life
- By: Charles J. Shields
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times best-selling author and biographer Charles J. Shields crafts this fascinating portrait of literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. The first authorized biography of the influential American writer, And So It Goes examines Vonnegut’s life, from his childhood to his death in 2007, and explores how the author changed the conversation of American literature.
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Probably only for die hard Vonnegut fans
- By Watery M on 12-22-12
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Ayn Rand and the World She Made
- By: Anne C. Heller
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Ayn Rand is the author of two phenomenally best-selling ideological novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, which have sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone. Through them, she built a right-wing cult following in the late 1950s and became the guiding light of Libertarianism and of White House economic policy in the 1960s and '70s. Her defenses of radical individualism and of selfishness as a "capitalist virtue" have permanently altered the American cultural landscape.
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Great history of both Rand and her era
- By Mark on 08-07-10
By: Anne C. Heller
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When Brooklyn Was Queer
- By: Hugh Ryan
- Narrated by: Hugh Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Hugh Ryan's When Brooklyn Was Queer is a groundbreaking exploration of the LGBT history of Brooklyn, from the early days of Walt Whitman in the 1850s up through the queer women who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II, and beyond. In intimate, evocative, moving prose, Ryan brings this never-before-told story of Brooklyn's vibrant and forgotten queer history to life.
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A Love Letter
- By Jeffrey on 06-26-19
By: Hugh Ryan
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High Society
- The Life of Grace Kelly
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: George K Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In just seven years---from 1950 through 1956---Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in 11 movies. From the principled Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon to the thrill-seeking Frances Stevens of To Catch a Thief, Grace established herself as one of Hollywood's most talented actresses and iconic beauties.
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Find a better Grace Kelly biography, I'd skip this
- By Daniel on 08-20-12
By: Donald Spoto
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Zelda Fitzgerald
- The Tragic, Meticulously Researched Biography of the Jazz Age's High Priestess
- By: Sally Cline
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Zelda Fitzgerald was the mythical American Dream Girl of the Roaring Twenties who became, in the words of her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, "the first American flapper." Their romance transformed a symbol of glamour and spectacle of the Jazz Age. When Zelda cracked up, not long after the stock market crash of 1929, Scott remained loyal to her through a nightmare of later breakdowns and final madness.
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The Beautiful and the Bungled
- By Silverthorne on 12-08-17
By: Sally Cline
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Gods and Kings
- The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano
- By: Dana Thomas
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Sastre
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In February 2011 John Galliano, the lauded head of Christian Dior, imploded with a drunken, anti-Semitic public tirade. Exactly a year earlier, celebrated designer Alexander McQueen took his own life three weeks before his women's wear show. Both were casualties of the war between art and commerce that has raged within fashion for the last two decades.
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Captivating
- By kpaige on 04-15-15
By: Dana Thomas
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America's Women
- 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Gail Collins
- Narrated by: Jane Alexander
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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America's Women tells the story of more than four centuries of history. It features a stunning array of personalities, from the women peering worriedly over the side of the Mayflower to feminists having a grand old time protesting beauty pageants and bridal fairs. Courageous, silly, funny, and heartbreaking, these women shaped the nation and our vision of what it means to be female in America.
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Not all there
- By Dirk Williams on 04-02-12
By: Gail Collins
What listeners say about Flapper
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- FranklyMsFrankie
- 04-04-14
B+ Good Value & Good Read/Listen
What did you like best about Flapper? What did you like least?
Readability and adaptability (whispersync). Narration was flat.
What did you like best about this story?
I love that this title includes whispersync. Keeping up with my place across devices is a wonderful addition to the literary experience. The author intertwines the personal relationships between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayer with trinkets of facts wrapped up in a fictionesque coating. It's very readable.
How could the performance have been better?
The reader seems to have only two tones of voice, straight and quoting. Its difficulty to determine the appropriate tone in many of the quoted bits because of the inflection given the by the latter. The reader seems too slow at times and too flirty when quoting. For some parts, the flirtatiousness is appropriate; but its a constant for anything italicized or quoted throughout the work.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Why? Who's directing?
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-29-17
really interesting and informative!
The narrator read well-enough, but I got really tired of her verbal exclamation points. I highly doubt Mr. Ford! spoke! in a high-pitched!, Excite!-ed! VOI-CE!! Really well-written, though and quite interesting!
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- Anna
- 11-14-18
Very informative and a good read, however
Good research went into it, however at some points it felt rushed or like it had poor organization to it. But I would recommend it cause I did enjoy learning about the topic.
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- clridenhour
- 08-08-17
Interesting facts, but the narrator...
Would you try another book from Joshua Zeitz and/or Daniella Rabbani?
The book itself is interesting and I would definitely read another by this author. However, I would avoid this reader as her timing and inflection are downright bizarre! I would have to say passages back to myself to fully understand what the writer was trying to say. If you like lots of ...'s in your narration, then this is the narrator for you.
Who was your favorite character and why?
There wasn't exactly a central character in this book, since it's more a commentary on era, but I did enjoy learning about Colleen Moore and Lois Long.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Daniella Rabbani?
Bernadette Dunne
Was Flapper worth the listening time?
Yes - very educational about many aspects of the twenties and the years leading up to that decade.
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- redsrule1
- 03-16-14
Good Book, Poor Performance
If you could sum up Flapper in three words, what would they be?
Interesting book but...
What was one of the most memorable moments of Flapper?
Much good information about the Jazz age, Zeitz writes in an interesting way that keeps the reader engaged.
Would you be willing to try another one of Daniella Rabbani’s performances?
Absolutely not. Rabbani made an interesting topic almost unbearable.
Any additional comments?
An interesting book, certainly worth reading THE PRINT VERSION. However, the narrator reads the book as if she's auditioning for a role on a soap opera. In a non-fiction book it is good to have a narrator breathe some life into the quotes of the people being written about. But Rabbani gives such a melodramatic reading to even the narrative portions that it is distracting and annoying. She sounds at various points of the narrative like a gossip columnist dishing the latest dirt, a stereotypical 80's valley girl from a bad movie, and a grade school teacher trying desperately to engage her disinterested students. Her reading style might suit a kids' fairies book, but it doesn't suit non-fiction.
To be fair, she does settle down a bit after about the 3rd hour, as if someone listened to the tapes and told her to tone it down, but by then the melodrama (which gets so out of hand at times that Rabbani stumbles over phrasing) and mispronunciations (including but not limited to such as "indigNITTY" for "indignity," "jew-ler-ry" for "jewelry," and the four-syllable version of "mischievous" with the extra "eee" sound), make it all a chore to slog through. As I said above, definitely worth READING the book, but do yourself a favor and skip the audiobook.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jennifer
- 08-31-17
Recommended
Interesting read! Told story of different people from different industries who started this age of the flappers.
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- Leslie Brophy
- 02-22-23
I’m sure the narrator is a lovely woman…
Her voice has made it impossible for me to finish this. Waste of a credit.
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- BookLover
- 07-26-19
Fabulous.
Fascinating chronicle of the flapper's evolution, not only covering literature and silent film stars who created her image, but also the advertising, politics and socioeconomic factors that shaped the flapper. Some disturbing historical/social highlights are covered that are not for the faint of heart; there are certain parts that lingered sadly in my mind for days, so be ready for the crushing truth of this era. Converesely, I also felt elated, inspired and excited to seek out flapper films, vintage ad photos and the biographies of silent film stars! I'm also now planning on reading the books of those wild Fitzgeralds. I feel that I just took a crash course in the Jazz Age. :) Wonderful.
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- DAN WERNERY
- 06-26-21
Enjoyable, but still needs research
The author of this book has a lot of great research and insights into this period. However there are still some areas where he is drawing from debunked sources. The area this is the most glaring at is when he discusses women’s fashion in the 19 century. I spent most of this chapter cringing over all the blatant miss information and out right lies that was presented.He presents the long misconception that tight lacing was a thing all women did and that women’s clothing was restrictive and uncomfortable. While a lot of women do suffer for fashion even today it is extremely stupid to think that every woman in the world wear uncomfortable clothing all the time when they did everything from work to leisure. Tight lacing was not a real thing except with perhaps 1% of the female population who spent all their days doing nothing.For god sake’s I am so sick of hearing all this fake medical information about the dangers of women’s corsets and clothing from this time that have been proven to be false. Not to mention his descriptions of women’s clothing are comical at best. I was all set to give this book 5 stars until this chapter came up. I will not in good faith give a five star rating to a book that contains blatant miss information and lies. One last thing most of the misinformation about corsets in the 19th century was made by men who wanted to discredit an industry that was predominantly made up of women, or was satire.
Poorly done.
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- L. H. Stever
- 09-09-22
Was hoping this would be better
I love Listening as I do this on audible… about the 19 teens and the 1920s so I was really looking forward to this book.
The stories were fine, but the reader was not good in my opinion. Her voice was a little too high-pitched and much too overzealous in reading the stories. At times her voice did not match the punctuation.
I’m sorry to say I did not finish the book all the way through. It’s still in my audible collection so I can go back and listen to a story now and again.
I was disappointed.😕
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