The Secret History of Wonder Woman
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Narrated by:
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Jill Lepore
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By:
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Jill Lepore
About this listen
A riveting work of historical detection revealing that the origins of one of the world’s most iconic superheroes hides within it a fascinating family story - and a crucial history of 20th-century feminism.
Wonder Woman, created in 1941, is the most popular female superhero of all time. Aside from Superman and Batman, no superhero has lasted as long or commanded so vast and wildly passionate a following. Like every other superhero, Wonder Woman has a secret identity. Unlike every other superhero, she has also has a secret history.
Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore has uncovered an astonishing trove of documents, including the never-before-seen private papers of William Moulton Marston, Wonder Woman's creator. Beginning in his undergraduate years at Harvard, Marston was influenced by early suffragists and feminists, starting with Emmeline Pankhurst, who was banned from speaking on campus in 1911, when Marston was a freshman. In the 1920s, Marston and his wife, Sadie Elizabeth Holloway, brought into their home Olive Byrne, the niece of Margaret Sanger, one of the most influential feminists of the 20th century. The Marston family story is a tale of drama, intrigue, and irony. In the 1930s, Marston and Byrne wrote a regular column for Family Circle celebrating conventional family life, even as they themselves pursued lives of extraordinary nonconformity. Marston, internationally known as an expert on truth - he invented the lie detector test - lived a life of secrets, only to spill them on the pages of Wonder Woman.
The Secret History of Wonder Woman is a tour de force of intellectual and cultural history. Wonder Woman, Lepore argues, is the missing link in the history of the struggle for women’s rights - a chain of events that begins with the women's suffrage campaigns of the early 1900s and ends with the troubled place of feminism a century later.
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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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The Real Lolita
- The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World
- By: Sarah Weinman
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is one of the most beloved novels ever. And yet, very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of 11-year-old Sally Horner. Weaving together suspenseful crime narrative, cultural and social history, and literary investigation, The Real Lolita tells Sally Horner’s full story for the first time. Sarah Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing Lolita.
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Meandering and tedious while never delivering the promised story.
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By: Sarah Weinman
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When Everything Changed
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- By: Gail Collins
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 15 hrs
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An enthralling blend of oral history and Gail Collins' keen research, this definitive look at 50 years of feminist progress shimmers with the amusing, down-to-earth liberal tone that is this New York Times columnist's trademark.
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The book I have been waiting for!
- By A Teacher on 09-10-10
By: Gail Collins
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The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
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Riveted for 1591 miles
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By: Tracy Daugherty
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The Good Girls Revolt
- How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace
- By: Lynn Povich
- Narrated by: Susan Larkin
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the 1960s - a time of economic boom and social strife. Young women poured into the workplace, but the “Help Wanted” ads were segregated by gender and the “Mad Men” office culture was rife with sexual stereotyping and discrimination. Lynn Povich was one of the lucky ones, landing a job at Newsweek, renowned for its cutting-edge coverage of civil rights and the “Swinging Sixties.” Nora Ephron, Jane Bryant Quinn, Ellen Goodman, and Susan Brownmiller all started there as well. It was a top-notch job - for a girl - at an exciting place. But it was a dead end.
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Good book read by Ms Robot.
- By careuther on 09-17-16
By: Lynn Povich
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Confidential Confidential
- The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine
- By: Samantha Barbas
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1950s, Confidential magazine, America's first celebrity scandal magazine, revealed Hollywood stars' secrets, misdeeds, and transgressions in gritty, unvarnished detail. Deploying a vast network of tipsters to root out stars' sexual affairs, drug use, and sexuality, publisher Robert Harrison destroyed celebrities' carefully constructed images and built a media empire. Confidential became the best-selling magazine on American newsstands in the 1950s, surpassing Time, Life, and the Saturday Evening Post. Confidential's spectacular rise was followed by an equally spectacular fall.
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Fascinating! Painstaking Research & Documentation
- By A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. on 05-22-19
By: Samantha Barbas
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The Curse of Beauty
- The Scandalous & Tragic Life of Audrey Munson, America's First Supermodel
- By: James Bone
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As America was stepping into the modern era, one great beauty became the artist's model of choice. Her perfect form became the emblem of the Gilded Age and appears on the greatest monuments of New York and the nation. Supermodel, actress, icon - her beauty paved the way for a life of glamour, passion, and ultimately tragedy. Her name is Audrey Munson.
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Fascinating
- By Аmazon Customer on 04-06-17
By: James Bone
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Inga
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- Narrated by: Scott Farris
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- Unabridged
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In addition to her romance with Kennedy, Arvad married four times - including to an Egyptian prince, the brilliant filmmaker Paul Fejos, and the famed cowboy movie star Tim McCoy. She had affairs with Wall Street financier Bernard Baruch, the noted surgeon Dr. William Cahan, and Winston Churchill's right hand man, Baron Robert Boothby. But by all accounts her admirers among the European and American elite loved Inga not for her physical beauty, but for her joie de vivre.
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Excellent Kennedy Read
- By James P. Barraza on 04-14-17
By: Scott Farris
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Inside Scientology
- The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
- By: Janet Reitman
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.
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My cup of tea.
- By MWMcCabe on 08-09-11
By: Janet Reitman
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Wonder Woman Unbound
- The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine
- By: Tim Hanley
- Narrated by: Colby Elliott
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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This close look at Wonder Woman's history portrays a complicated heroine who is more than just a female Superman with a golden lasso and bullet-deflecting bracelets. The original Wonder Woman was ahead of her time, advocating female superiority and the benefits of matriarchy in the 1940s. At the same time, her creator filled the comics with titillating bondage imagery, and Wonder Woman was tied up as often as she saved the world.
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facts about how Wonder Woman has been portrayed
- By Midwestbonsai on 07-25-16
By: Tim Hanley
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The Unbreakable Miss Lovely
- How the Church of Scientology Tried to Destroy Paulette Cooper
- By: Tony Ortega
- Narrated by: Tony Ortega
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
In 1971 Paulette Cooper wrote a scathing book about the Church of Scientology. Desperate to shut the book down, Scientology unleashed on her one of the most sinister personal campaigns the free world has ever known. The onslaught, which lasted years, ruined her life and drove her to the brink of suicide. The story of Paulette's terrifying ordeal is told in full for the first time in The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.
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A "CHURCH" THAT IS DESTRUCTIVE. INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY
- By Count B on 09-29-16
By: Tony Ortega
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Notorious RBG: Young Readers' Edition
- The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- By: Irin Carmon
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become an icon to millions. Her tireless fight for equality and women's rights has inspired not only great strides in the workforce but has impacted the law of the land. And now, perfect for a younger generation, comes an accessible biography of this fierce woman, detailing her searing dissents and powerful jurisprudence. This entertaining and insightful young listeners' edition mixes pop culture, humor, and expert analysis for a remarkable account of the indomitable Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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Enjoyed by whole family
- By Amy McCarthy on 11-07-18
By: Irin Carmon
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What listeners say about The Secret History of Wonder Woman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tricia B
- 01-03-16
The most annoying reading
The author read the book and she has such an annoying voice. Her voice was high C or raspy.
Terrible!
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9 people found this helpful
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- DaveNoID
- 08-02-17
The story is fantastic.
Great job with storytelling. Pro narrator would have been a better choice. All & All I would highly recommend this book. :)
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- evangeline
- 02-06-15
A captivating portrayal of history
I will not soon be forgetting the important dates in history that is so artfully correlated with the story of wonder woman and women's suffrage.
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- DangerGibson83
- 02-28-17
Shocked & Appalled!
Was not a book I expected to expose the vial history of sexism's. I now understand why Wonder Woman was resently nominated as woman of the year. Before this book, it seemed both ludicrous & utterly insulting to women.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-06-22
The Narration Almost Ruined it for Me.
This book covers the history leading up to the creation of Wonder Woman through a lens of feminism; if you are looking for an extensive history of the comic character you must look elsewhere.
Yes, we learn about the life of William Moulton Marston, warts and all, but it is by no means a biography of him alone.
At times I felt a bit lost in the maze as the book went far afield of the comics industry. However, the text did provide an extensive background for the times and people that created Wonder Woman, though I felt the conclusion to be a bit vague.
My key gripe is the narration of the book, which is by the author. At times it seemed to be read in an endless monotone. At other times she read some passages in a mocking tone. The theatrics hit a high note (or perhaps a low one) when she frantically reads Marston's instructions to his artist concerning various bits of bondage which seemed to flourish in Wonder Woman's early adventures. This was the moment I almost stopped listening.
The narration makes this bookl hard to listen to. The material would be better served with a different narrator.
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- Aaron & Klarissa
- 07-13-21
extremely interesting
There was a film made on the subject, but I like this book so much better it was more factual and less provocative I’ve read the original comics and I wish to read more I’ve seen some of the films but I see wonder woman as a strong leader.
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- David F. Flanders
- 06-24-17
A story of feminism...
The author of this book self narrating her own historical investigation is fascinating. A bitter-sweet tale charting the rise of Wonder Women during the suffragette movement, through to the feminism of today. Who was really WW and whom were the people who his the secret identity of WW? Well worth the read to find out!
Please feel free to ask further Qs via tweet: @DFFlanders
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- Erin
- 10-09-18
Great read!
So interesting! Glad to read this one- so much women’s history I didn’t know, I feel relieved to be mor informed.
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- Kathryn
- 01-05-19
important work; bad narration.
This history, assuming its accuracy, is far too important to have relegated it to such poor narration. The author may write well but she should never ever narrate. Had I not been reading this for book club, I would not have read past the first chapter as the narration was so bad.
That said, I am glad to have learned this previously shutdown history. I thought I knew Margaret Sanger; I did not. The entire birth control movement and women's liberation history has a flood light shed upon it by this book. I would suggest finding a professional narrator and rerecording.
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- S. Richardson
- 04-29-15
Great feminist listening!
Thoroughly researched, entertainingly written, Jill Lepore's book was inspiring and maddening (slow pace of social change) for this listener.
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