The Aviator and the Showman

Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage That Made an American Icon

De: Laurie Gwen Shapiro

Narrado por: Stefanie Powers

A New York Times Editors' Choice • CBS Sunday Morning Summer Book Report Pick • New York Times “Books to Read in July” • A Town and Country Best Book of July • An Amazon Best Book of July • A Barnes & Noble Best Book of July • A BookBub Beach Read Pick • A New Yorker Best Book We Read This Week

"Laurie Gwen Shapiro has dug deep into the archives, and emerged with an exhilarating tale of the adventurous life of Amelia Earhart and the remarkable relationship that helped to forge her legend. Yet Shapiro goes even further—stripping away the myths and revealing something far more profound and intricate and true. The Aviator and the Showman is one terrific book.”
—David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon

The riveting and cinematic story of a partnership that would change the world forever

In 1928, a young social worker and hobby pilot named Amelia Earhart arrived in the office of George Putnam, heir to the Putnam & Sons throne and hitmaker, on the hunt for the right woman for a secret flying mission across the Atlantic. A partnership—professional and soon otherwise—was born.

The Aviator and the Showman unveils the untold story of Amelia's decade-long marriage to George Putnam, offering an intimate exploration of their relationship and the pivotal role it played in her enduring legacy. Despite her outwardly modest and humble image, Amelia was fiercely driven and impossibly brave, a lifelong feminist and trailblazer in her personal and professional life. Putnam, the so-called “PT Barnum of publishing” was a bookselling visionary—but often pushed his authors to extreme lengths in the name of publicity, and no one bore that weight more than Amelia. Their ahead-of-its time partnership supported her grand ambitions—but also pressed her into more and more treacherous stunts to promote her books, influencing a certain recklessness up to and including her final flight.

Earhart is a captivating figure to many, but the truth about her life is often overshadowed by myth and legend. In this cinematic new account, Laurie Gwen Shapiro emphasizes Earhart’s multifaceted human side, her struggles, and her authentic aspirations, the truths behind her brave pursuits and the compromises she made to fit into societal expectations. Drawing from a trove of new sources including undiscovered audio interviews, The Aviator and the Showman is a gripping and passionate tale of adventure, colorful characters, hubris, and a complex and a vivid portrait of a marriage that shaped the trajectory of an iconic life.

©2025 Laurie Gwen Shapiro (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This profoundly researched, gripping journey is a must read. Filled with stunning details of the courageous life of feminist adventurer, politically radical, and generous social worker Amelia Earhart, as well as her self-serving promoter husband, and their networks of friends and allies, The Aviator and the Showman is captivating and heartening.”—Blanche Wiesen Cook, New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1-3

“I thought I understood the story of Amelia Earhart. I could not have been more wrong. As Shapiro proves in this irresistible book, the full tale is so much more thrilling, inspiring, and outrageous than even the most ardent fan might imagine. Read it. It is a wild ride!”—Candice Millard, New York Times bestselling author of River of the Gods

“Shapiro’s meticulous research and gripping storytelling make this not just a biography, but a revelation—an entirely new understanding of how Earhart constructed her own myth and why, nearly a century later, her name still resonates as powerfully as ever.”—The Atchison Globe

Amelia the Person, Not the Myth

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book, and it absolutely delivers. Just when you think there’s nothing new to learn about Amelia Earhart—think again.

This book is packed with detail, yet never bogged down by it. The pages fly by as you’re drawn into the full who, what, when, where, and why of Amelia’s life. It offers a deeply personal look at what made her tick, revealing sides of her few have known. Get to know Amelia the person not the myth.

I can’t recommend it highly enough. A truly exceptional piece of research… certain to be a definitive tome in the Earhart canon.

Tha story

Loved the narration! The narrator was superb from the beginning to end! She lent so much to this well-researched book!

Complicated People, A Vanished World, and The Myth

Everyone interested in Earhart thinks they know how her life ended and her myth and afterlife began. But - how did she get there?

This is an amazing and enlightening book.

What I admired: deep and careful research, clear writing. The author brushes off layers of tall tales, sensational speculations, and lets the people emerge in all their messy glory.

An age appropriate biography of Amelia was one of the first books I read - 4th grade, I think. Her courage, accomplishments, and mysterious disappearance inspired me enormously and encouraged me to dare. Then during the 1960's several widely promoted hunts for her bones, plane, etc sparked new books and articles about her, building her myth, further obscuring the real person. Putnam, if mentioned at all, was "her husband."

In this double biography, the author achieves a remarkable feat of time travel. The early 1900's through the beginning of WW II, and the unimaginable birth and growth of aviation, might be a thousand years ago in our true understanding in spite of or maybe because of all the TV series and movies about the era that we've been consuming avidly during the past 30 years.

This book brings that time alive through the deeds, relationships, words, of the complex characters of Amelia, George, and their people.

It would be easy to condemn Putnam as a cruel opportunist who exploited Earhart as he pursued his own narcissistic schemes. On the other hand, it is probable that Amelia would never have achieved what she did without his social connections, genius as a publicist, and access to funding.

I was shocked to learn about Amelia's shaky training and comparative lack of flying hours when she became prominent. One the other hand, it throws her brave adventurousness into even brighter light.

What I did not like as much - I found the narrator who has a great reading voice delivered the script too slowly. Easy to remedy: turn up the app speed.