Synopses & Reviews
The definitive biography of a trailblazing actress
who entertainedand shockedthe nation and the world
Marilyn Monroe might never have become the legend she did without Americas original tragic starlet: actress and poet Adah Isaacs Menken (183568). In a century remembered for Victorian restraint, Menkens modern flair for action, scandal, and unpopular causesespecially that of the Jewish peoplerevolutionized show business. On stage, she was the first actress to bare all. Off stage, she originated the front-page scandal and became the worlds most highly paid actresscelebrated on Broadway, as well as in San Francisco, London, and Paris. At thirty-three, she mysteriously died.
A Dangerous Woman is the first book to tell Menkens fascinating story. Born in New Orleans to a kept woman of color” and to a father whose identity is debated, Menken eventually moved to the Midwest, where she became an outspoken protégé of the rabbi who founded Reform Judaism. In New York City, she became Walt Whitmans disciple. During the Civil War she was arrested as a Confederate agentand became Americas first pin-up superstar. Menken married and left five husbands. Ultimately, she paid dearly for success.
A major biography of a remarkable woman, A Dangerous Woman is must reading for those interested in womens history, the roots of modern-day American Judaism, and African-American history.
Praise for a previous book by Barbara and Michael Foster, Forbidden Journey: The Life of Alexandra David-Neel
Hers was a great human life, very well written up in Forbidden Journey. . . . Surely this biography will provoke even more interest.” New York Times Book Review
Review
Praise for the Fosters FORBIDDEN JOURNEY: THE LIFE OF ALEXANDRA DAVID-NEEL and THE SECRET LIVES OF ALEXANDRA DAVID-NEEL
Hers was a great human life, very well written up in Forbidden Journey.... Surely this biography will provoke even more interest.” The New York Times Book Review
A fascinating account of the life and exploits of the brilliant 20th century Frenchwoman who became the first European female to enter the holy city of Lhasa.” Harpers Bazaar
Blakean imagery in Alexandra David-Neels Magic and Mystery in Tibet magnetized me toward Buddhist meditation. Now, her own vast sacred life record is happily accessible.” Allen Ginsberg
Synopsis
The definitive biography of a trailblazing actress who entertained--and shocked--the nation and the worldMarilyn Monroe might never have become the legend she did without America's original tragic starlet: actress and poet Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-68). In a century remembered for Victorian restraint, Menken's modern flair for action, scandal, and unpopular causes--especially that of the Jewish people--revolutionized show business. On stage, she was the first actress to bare all. Off stage, she originated the front-page scandal and became the world's most highly paid actress--celebrated on Broadway, as well as in San Francisco, London, and Paris. At thirty-three, she mysteriously died. A Dangerous Woman is the first book to tell Menken's fascinating story. Born in New Orleans to a kept woman of color and to a father whose identity is debated, Menken eventually moved to the Midwest, where she became an outspoken prot g of the rabbi who founded Reform Judaism. In New York City, she became Walt Whitman's disciple. During the Civil War she was arrested as a Confederate agent--and became America's first pin-up superstar. Menken married and left five husbands. Ultimately, she paid dearly for success. A major biography of a remarkable woman, A Dangerous Woman is must reading for those interested in women's history, the roots of modern-day American Judaism, and African-American history. Praise for a previous book by Barbara and Michael Foster, Forbidden Journey: The Life of Alexandra David-Neel Hers was a great human life, very well written up in Forbidden Journey. . . . Surely this biography will provoke even more interest. --New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Adah Menken was America's original international superstar. In the mid-nineteenth century, her modern flair for action, scandal, and unpopular causes--especially that of the Jewish people--revolutionized show business. On stage, she was the first actress to apparently bare all--the mother of theatrical and film nudity. Off stage, she originated the front-page scandal and became the most famous, highly paid actress in the world--the darling of New York, San Francisco, London, and Paris. At thirty-three, the height of her fame, this femme fatale mysteriously died. Longfellow, at her bedside, composed a farewell love song.
Born to a kept woman of color in New Orleans, the identity of her father is still debated. In her teens she became a true daughter of Texas, learning to shoot and ride. In her twenties in the Midwest, she became a protege of Rabbi Wise, founder of Reform Judaism and first to posit an American Jewish identity. Adah wrote heartfelt verse and essays in defense of the Jewish people. Later, in New York's Bohemian scene, she became the disciple of shunned Walt Whitman and a revolutionary figure in her own right. During the Civil War she took an active but conflicted role and was arrested as a Confederate agent. Adah became America's first pin-up, her photos adored by soldiers North and South. She married and left five husbands, among them the world heavyweight boxing champ, a leading literary figure, and a Rhett Butler-style gambler.
She could sing, dance, and was a wonderful comic. These talents were brushed aside by the attention given to a sexy, daredevil act that threatened her life. For a time, she was the ticket on Broadway, the darling of San Francisco, the talk of London, and the toast of Paris. A compact woman, curvy, hair dark and curly, she was fond of gambling the night away dressed in mens evening clothes. She rode horses astride, took and discarded lovers, and wore revealing sheath dresses in an age of hoop skirts. Ultimately, Adah confused fame with notoriety and paid dearly for success.
Adah Menken, naughtiest of Victorians, has come to represent sexual liberation for men and women. In her time, she fought racial, religious, and gender oppression. In our time, women have found freedom in everything from athletics to the current revival in burlesque. This is an important biographer of a trailblazer, Americas first international superstar of the stage, a poet whose work is still in print, a woman whose life crossed paths with the most famous men and women of the Victorian Age, Adah Isaacs Menken.
Synopsis
A major biography of a remarkable woman, A Dangerous Woman is must reading for those interested in womens history, the roots of modern-day American Judaism, and African-American history.
Synopsis
Marilyn Monroe might never have become the legend she did without Americas original tragic star: actress and poet Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-68). In a century remembered for Victorian restraint, Menkens modern flair for action, scandal, and unpopular causes—especially that of the Jewish people—revolutionized show business. On stage she was the first actress to apparently bare all. Off stage she originated the front-page scandal and became the worlds most famous, highly paid actress—the darling of New York City, San Francisco, London, and Paris. At thirty-three this femme fatale mysteriously died. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, at her bedside, composed a farewell poem.
A Dangerous Woman is the first book to tell the entire fascinating story of Menken. Born in New Orleans to a “woman of color” and to a father whose identity is debated, Menken became a true daughter of Texas in her teens, learning to shoot and ride. Eventually she moved to the Midwest, where she became an outspoken protégé of the rabbi who founded Reform Judaism. Adah wrote heartfelt verse and essays in defense of the Jewish people. Later, in New York, she became Walt Whitmans ally and a revolutionary figure in her own right. During the Civil War she was arrested as a Confederate agent—and became Americas first pin-up superstar.
Menken married and left five husbands. She could sing and dance, and she was a wonderful comic. She was fond of gambling the night away dressed in mens evening clothes. She rode horses astride, took and discarded lovers, and wore revealing sheath dresses in an age of hoop skirts. Ultimately, this naughtiest of Victorians—who fought racial, religious, and gender oppression in her own time, and today represents sexual liberation for men and women alike—paid dearly for success.
Synopsis
She was as American as ambition, as human as sex, as transcendent as love. Americas first international superstar, actress and poet Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-68) was a woman whose life crossed paths with the most famous men and women of the Victorian Age. The first in the line of Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, and Marilyn Monroe, she scandalized audiences in New York, San Francisco, London, and Paris with her provocative performances; entertained a country ripped apart by Civil War; and influenced the lives of Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens,
Alexandre Dumas, Sarah Bernhardt, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
About the Author
Praise for A DANGEROUS WOMAN The Fosters skillful narrative biography of nineteenth-century superstar Adah Menken captures the richness and complexity of this Civil War-era Jezebel, an archetypal American bad girl.”
Eve LaPlante, award-winning author of American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans Praise for Adah Isaacs Menken
A magnificent spectacle dazzled my visionthe whole constellation of the Great Menken came flaming out of the heavens.” Mark Twain
Adah was the premier sight of the West, the Rockies a very poor second.” Life magazine
This is she . . . the worlds delight.” Algernon Swinburne
She is so lovely she numbs the mind and the senses reel.” New York Post
The inspired Deborah of her people.” Baron Lionel de Rothschild
Todays Hollywood celebrities have nothing on the glamorous, scandalous, tragic and paradoxical Adah Isaacs Menken.” American Jewish Historical Society
Adah Menken was the most remarkable mingling of angel and devil.” Napoleon Sarony, the first celebrity photographer
To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. She eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.” Arthur Conan Doyle on Irene Sadler, his character based on Menken