Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
By Anita Loos
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Anita Loos
Anita Loos (1888-1981) was an American playwright and novelist. Born in California, Loos was raised in a family of newspaper publishers. She was raised in San Francisco, where she would follow her father, a journalist and businessman, on fishing trips and other excursions to the city’s impoverished areas. She worked as an actress in her teens, eventually becoming the main provider for her family due to her father’s struggle with alcoholism. After graduating high school, Loos worked as a writer for several publications and submitted her first screenplay in 1911, for which she was paid $25. In 1912, her screenplay The New York Hat was turned into a successful silent film by D.W. Griffith, an early Hollywood legend. For the next several years, she found steady work as a writer for Griffith, receiving her first screen credit for a production of Macbeth. In 1918, she moved with her husband John Emerson to New York, where she found some success on a film for William Randolph Hurst’s mistress Marion Davies, as well as on several features starring Constance Talmadge. In 1925, she adapted a series of sketches originally published in Harper’s Bazaar to form Gentleman Prefer Blondes, a highly successful comic novel that earned her fame, fortune, and adoration from such writers as William Faulkner and Aldous Huxley. Dubbed “the great American novel” by Edith Wharton, Gentleman Prefer Blondes would be adapted countless times for theater and film, including the 1953 classic starring Marilyn Monroe.
Read more from Anita Loos
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Reviews for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
203 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Review of the audiobook edition:
This Audible edition starts with an introduction and a preface (I guess) which are labelled as Chapters 1 and 2. If, like me, you prefer to skip introductions, then start with Chapter 3!
Patrice O'Neill's voice was excellent for this novel; a bit reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe in the film version but not overly so. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I came across this book, I was compelled to own it; I love Folio Society editions and the movie is one of my favorites (mostly for the fashion and music). I was not disappointed but its quite different from the movie plot. The humour is clearly era-dependent and modern readers need to adapt the right mindset to enjoy this (and most reviewers obvs haven't sadly).
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book is like a diary. Lerelei is a main character. She has many diamonds and many clever friends. She travel many places, she met many person. She likes gentleman who give her diamond. But she finally decide to marry a man who...I don't think I like diary style. I felt it was long but I like story of this book. I think money is important but it is not everything in our life.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The satire here is so blunt and heavy it's absolutely numbing. Lorelei's misspellings, malapropisms and imbecilic intonation are completely OTT, making the book a tiring experience despite its brevity. Starting every single sentence with "so," or "I mean," for 200+ pages is actually an interesting experiment in punishment prose: I could only manage 20 or so pages at a time before tapping out. Our heroines's stay in England, where everyone is desperate to raise cash by flogging her their ancestral tat, is kinda funny. But the mockery of the French (lecherous and unhygienic) and Germans (sausage- and beer-guzzlers) falls lamentably flat. Satire demands restraint: Lorelei visiting "a gallery full of Kunst" is funny. Retreading the joke twenty times in 10 pages, not so much. As Froyd might say of this overrated flapper parody — cloche, but no cigar. Actually who am I kidding, he probably loved it like everybody else.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I felt that Lorelei's sense of value was different from mine when Iread this book.Perhaps my thought is childish. But I don't understand her thought which is like money is all.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5While at times it was entertaining and hilarious, I was mostly bored as I read the book. Lorelei is extraordinarily brainless and the best parts are where she is being insulted and takes it as a compliment. Loos does a brilliant job of capturing Lorelei's character in the words and how she uses them on the page (intentionally rife with misspellings and repeated words (very 90s Valley Girl esque only "so" and "and" and "really" instead of "like" and "totally").
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Many people are described in this book and I cannot remember their names, so this book is difficult to read.But I'm glad that Lorelei find real hapiness last.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I don't like Lorelei. Because she only mekes friends with rich men.It's not important friends are rich.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lorelei has a lot of diamonds . And she can go to expensive restaurants thanks of her gentlemen friends.I think money is everything .In my life , of course , I need money to live healthy .But the most important things are another .For example , family , friends , lover , hobby , favorite work .....After reading , I thought I will spend my life cheerfuly and enjoy everyday more.This book made me think means of "life" .
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I found this book to be very entertaining and extremely silly. Although i its short I had to read it in chunks because it started to grate on me after too much time, so it took a while. That said, the voice of the protagonist was endearing and funny and it was a great fun read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a humorous novel written by Anita Loos and first published in 1925. Although many are familiar with the 1953 movie version starring Marilyn Monroe, the novel is a satire and was probably one of the first introductions of the ditzy blonde. Lorelei Lee is a fantastic character and the book is set up to read as her diary. We follow Lorelei as she travels from New York to London and Paris, entertaining and gathering gifts from her gentlemen friends along the way. Of course, the author has created a memorial character and one who is a lot smarter than her appearance would lead you to believe. Gold-digger Lorelei knows both her own worth and the worth of the expensive gifts she expects and receives from her admirers. In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Anita Loos cleverly pokes fun at class, religion, politics and culture. And as Lorelei goes about manipulating her gentlemen callers, her diary spares no one and is very funny. This is a very short novel or novella but it is crammed with memorable and highly quotable lines. Marilyn Monroe and her iconic performance in the movie immediately spring to mind when I read lines such as “Kissing your hand may make you feel very good, but a diamond bracelet lasts forever” .I found this a light, delightful and entertaining story.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I ended up liking this more than I thought I would, it is startling to realize that it was written more than 90 years ago. There were several moments that I laughed out loud. I need to re-watch one of the movies.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5She mentioned that her brain is very important and going on a trip around Europe so she can learn about Life. However, she always saw something related to money after all. I would like to read the squel to a story, if it were.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was a positively silly book and it almost embarrassed me to be reading it. Luckily, it was incredibly short (less than 200 pages) so I was able to get through it in one weekend. It is the journal of Lorelei Lee, a Midwest girl making her way in the New York City with gal pal Dorothy. Lorelei's idea of making her way is to see how many men she can charm into "educating" her with their wallets. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is Lorelei's diary from March 16th to July 10th and chronicles (complete with spelling and grammatical errors) her trip to Paris, France and Europe beyond all the while juggling many different male suitors. She starts nearly every sentence with "So" to the point where it got on my nerves the way someone says "like" all the time (and not the "like" on FaceBook, although that can get annoying as well). Lorelei uses shopping as her weapon and is quite good at it. I had a few laugh out loud moments. My recommendation is to find the 195 version. The illustrations are priceless.