Queen Bess: An Unauthorized Biography of Bess Myerson
Written by Jennifer Preston
Narrated by Suzanne Toren
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
This "fascinating" biography details the rise of the first Jewish Miss America, TV star, and political player—and the scandal that toppled her career (The New York Times).
When Bess Myerson, the Bronx-born daughter of Jewish immigrants, was crowned Miss America in 1945, she was determined to break down gender barriers and be more than a beauty queen. Amid rampant anti-Semitism, she took advantage of her reign to call for an end to bigotry and hate. Then, after more than two decades as a glamorous television personality, Myerson took on corporate America, applying her celebrity as a consumer advocate to become an influential New York City political figure credited with helping elect Mayor Edward I. Koch. But behind the glittering public image, Myerson struggled with unhappy marriages. Then, in her early sixties, she found love with a much younger married man. The romance put her at the center of a political corruption scandal that led to federal charges brought by US Attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani, ending the reign of Queen Bess, New York's favorite daughter, after more than forty years.
Award-winning investigative journalist Jennifer Preston reveals Myerson's fascinating life story in this engaging biography. Featuring interviews with Myerson herself and a new introduction from the author, Queen Bess remains the most comprehensive account of this ambitious and talented woman who inspired, entertained, and shocked millions.
Jennifer Preston
Jennifer Preston worked as a reporter and editor for the New York Times for nearly two decades before becoming vice president of journalism at the Knight Foundation in 2014. At the Times, she spent almost seven years as a senior editor and was named the company’s first social media editor, responsible for digital journalism and social media storytelling, in 2009. Previously, Preston was a reporter for New York Newsday, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philadelphia’s The Bulletin. She has received several awards for reporting including the New York Press Club’s Gold Typewriter Award for Public Service and the New York State Bar Association’s Award for Investigative Reporting. In 2013 Fast Company named her one of the top twenty-five women to follow on Twitter. Preston is the author of Queen Bess: An Unauthorized Biography of Bess Myerson.
Related to Queen Bess
Related audiobooks
Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Diamonds and Deadlines: A Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycoon in the Gilded Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confidential Confidential: The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites who Fought for Women's Right to Vote Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Lady: The Life of Susan Mary Alsop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bonfire of the Vanderbilts: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All That Glitters: Anna Wintour, Tina Brown, and the Rivalry Inside America's Richest Media Empire Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters: The Tragic and Glamorous Lives of Jackie and Lee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whatever Happened to Hollywood? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grace of Monaco: The True Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grit in the Pearl: The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mae West: An Icon in Black and White Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wait for Me!: Memoirs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Harlow in Hollywood: The Blonde Bombshell in the Glamour Capital, 1928 – 1937 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Daughter of Empire: My Life As a Mountbatten Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Real Wallis Simpson: A New History of the American Divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before Wallis: Edward VIII's Other Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jackie's Girl: My Life with the Kennedy Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Malice in Wonderland: My Adventures in the World of Cecil Beaton Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tallulah Bankhead: The Colorful Life of an American Actress and Activist Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Glitter and the Gold: The American Duchess---In Her Own Words Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Can I Go Now?: The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood's First Superagent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America's Most Public Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Women's Biographies For You
Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the Dream House: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stash: My Life in Hiding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tell Me Everything: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Worthy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We're Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Uncultured: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hello, Molly!: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Mother Was Nuts: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Own It All: How to Stop Waiting for Change and Start Creating It. Because Your Life Belongs to You. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Down the Drain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Class: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Butts: A Backstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wake Up With Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in my First Hundred Years Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Got Anything Stronger?: Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Life of One's Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Queen Bess
4 ratings0 reviews