Flapper

By: Joshua Zeitz

Narrated by: Daniella Rabbani

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

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.

©2006 Jushua Zeitz (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

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.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

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.

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.

Recommended

Interesting read! Told story of different people from different industries who started this age of the flappers.

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!

Wonderful history of the 1920s

I really liked this. It was informative and entertaining. The narrator had irksome mispronunciations in a number of places, but that’s a peeve.

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.

Struggled with distracting narration.

Aside from the fact that it's mainly a Zelda & F. Scott Fitzgerald biography, the narration is so distracting that I only made it about halfway through. I understand there are probably a lot of quotes and excerpts to read in this book, but she emphasizes phrases in the most bizarre and incongruous ways that makes it sound like every other word is italicized or in quotes. Very disappointed, could have been a fun book if there had been more history.

Madcap And Modern

Any additional comments?

As an historian interested in social movements, this book offered a wonderful insight into the many women who first broke the old Victorian-Edwardian mold and threw the pieces out the window.

Good micro-history

I wish I'd read instead of listened to this book. The narrator is terrible. She either over emotes or uses a monotone voice and there are many mis-pronunciations.

If Jordan narrated A Brief History of Time...

What disappointed you about Flapper?

The narrator

What was one of the most memorable moments of Flapper?

The dawning realisation that the appalling narration rendered the book unlistenable-to.

How could the performance have been better?

It could not have been worse.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The writing seemed to be very good.

Any additional comments?

It is inexplicable to me how someone can narrate a fine book so badly and yet no-one involved in the production process seems to notice.