Dangerous Woman: The Life, Loves, And Scandals Of Adah Isaacs Menken, 1835-1868, America's Original Superstar
The definitive biography of a trailblazing actress
who entertained--and shocked--the nation and the world
Marilyn 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
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