Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
The writing in this is a little dry but once you're a few chapters in you get used to it. Also, you're going to spend a lot of time NOT learning about Wonder Woman directly (she shows up about halfway through the book) so I'd go in with that expectation.
That being said, I did find this book pretty interesting in terms of where the influences for Wonder Woman and her progressive feminism of the time came from. I also learned quite a bit about this time period (1910's - 1940's) and the fight for women's suffrage, birth control, etc from this book which isn't really covered that deeply in schools.
I would argue that this book is really more about that with Wonder Woman as a framing device than about Wonder Woman herself but still an interesting read.
That being said, I did find this book pretty interesting in terms of where the influences for Wonder Woman and her progressive feminism of the time came from. I also learned quite a bit about this time period (1910's - 1940's) and the fight for women's suffrage, birth control, etc from this book which isn't really covered that deeply in schools.
I would argue that this book is really more about that with Wonder Woman as a framing device than about Wonder Woman herself but still an interesting read.
While the information in the book is interesting, it proves to be a frustrating read. The biggest shortcoming of the book is that there is very little shared of Marston's peculiar psychology. How does someone who is a top-of-his-class student at Harvard become a get-rich-quick ne'er-do-well? If it weren't for WONDER WOMAN he would have ended up quite a failure.
Also, how was it that he was able to pull off this untraditional family dynamic? What was the nature of his charisma?
Also, how was it that he was able to pull off this untraditional family dynamic? What was the nature of his charisma?
Despite its rough edges and clunky pacing, it was a fascinating book.
Interesting read! It's light on actual Wonder Woman, though, but the story of Marston, his odd life and family life, and the larger ties to feminism made for an engaging read nonetheless.
Marston was quite a piece of work. I'm still trying to decide if I think he was mostly a con man or what. And I find it interesting that the man who created Wonder Woman came across, at times, like a misogynist. He claimed to think women were superior and would rule the world someday, yet when he married Sadie Holloway he forced her to change even her FIRST name to Betty because he didn't like her first or middle names. Then he forced her to accept his relationship with Olive Byrne. Holloway turned that to her advantage as best she could (having kids and leaving Byrne to care for them while Holloway pursues her career), but it was still a situation forced upon her by a man who purported to think women were superior and should be in control.
The connection between Marston and Margaret Sanger was fascinating to me, and Wonder Woman's place in feminist history is undeniable. Lepore has done her research quite thoroughly and draws clear connections to various women in Marston's life, including Sanger, and different traits of Wonder Woman clearly influenced by those women. And even though this book is a bit long, I found it an easy read. (The only reason it took me so long to finish was because I was participating in NaNoWriMo.) A lot of nonfiction can be dense, the writing terse or bland, but Lepore's writing is clean and moves the book along well. Maybe part of that is helped by the subject matter.
The book covers more about Marston than Wonder Woman, to be clear. I do find the title of the book slightly misleading, as the focus is really on Marston and the history AROUND Wonder Woman rather than the history OF Wonder Woman. In some ways they are one and the same, but not quite. There is a lot of history of the suffrage and early feminist movements, and showing how Marston was involved or influenced by those. Which did go on to inspire his creation of Wonder Woman, but is still not quite the same as the history OF the character. I didn't mind. It was a nice refresher for some feminist history, and also illuminated things I hadn't already known about that movement. And Marston was a fascinating person with a unique personal life, so learning about all that held my interest as well.
Marston was quite a piece of work. I'm still trying to decide if I think he was mostly a con man or what. And I find it interesting that the man who created Wonder Woman came across, at times, like a misogynist. He claimed to think women were superior and would rule the world someday, yet when he married Sadie Holloway he forced her to change even her FIRST name to Betty because he didn't like her first or middle names. Then he forced her to accept his relationship with Olive Byrne. Holloway turned that to her advantage as best she could (having kids and leaving Byrne to care for them while Holloway pursues her career), but it was still a situation forced upon her by a man who purported to think women were superior and should be in control.
The connection between Marston and Margaret Sanger was fascinating to me, and Wonder Woman's place in feminist history is undeniable. Lepore has done her research quite thoroughly and draws clear connections to various women in Marston's life, including Sanger, and different traits of Wonder Woman clearly influenced by those women. And even though this book is a bit long, I found it an easy read. (The only reason it took me so long to finish was because I was participating in NaNoWriMo.) A lot of nonfiction can be dense, the writing terse or bland, but Lepore's writing is clean and moves the book along well. Maybe part of that is helped by the subject matter.
The book covers more about Marston than Wonder Woman, to be clear. I do find the title of the book slightly misleading, as the focus is really on Marston and the history AROUND Wonder Woman rather than the history OF Wonder Woman. In some ways they are one and the same, but not quite. There is a lot of history of the suffrage and early feminist movements, and showing how Marston was involved or influenced by those. Which did go on to inspire his creation of Wonder Woman, but is still not quite the same as the history OF the character. I didn't mind. It was a nice refresher for some feminist history, and also illuminated things I hadn't already known about that movement. And Marston was a fascinating person with a unique personal life, so learning about all that held my interest as well.
I can’t tell if the author wanted to write about the creation of Wonder Woman and only came up with about 50 pages, and thus needed to fill this book with other information OR she wanted to write about early 20th century feminism and psychology and just decided to tie it together with Wonder Woman since her creator was heavily interested in both.
What this all basically means is that Wonder Woman’s creation does not happen until nearly 200 pages in. Okay fine. I was prepared to learn about her creator and his two wives as that sounds fascinating to me. Which we did learn about them. And feminism. And psychology. And the lie detector test. And a couple people put on trial with the lie detector test. And some other people who’s relevance I’m still not certain about. And then some. Not to mention by the time we get to Wonder Woman, it’s mostly just transcripts of things that happened in her comics.
Basically, not about Wonder Woman nearly as much as it should be and not even about the man who wrote her and the women who inspired her as much as it should be. I never got the answer on whether Marston’s wives actually even liked each other? I mean it seemed like they did and they both consented to share a husband. I was really hoping to learn more about the two of them and their relationship with each other but I guess there’s only so much we can learn now.
The point I’m getting to is that this book takes a long time to get to the point and then is a bit of a let down. If it had been relabeled to be more about feminism I would have picked it up for that but I went in expecting different things from this rambling book.
What this all basically means is that Wonder Woman’s creation does not happen until nearly 200 pages in. Okay fine. I was prepared to learn about her creator and his two wives as that sounds fascinating to me. Which we did learn about them. And feminism. And psychology. And the lie detector test. And a couple people put on trial with the lie detector test. And some other people who’s relevance I’m still not certain about. And then some. Not to mention by the time we get to Wonder Woman, it’s mostly just transcripts of things that happened in her comics.
Basically, not about Wonder Woman nearly as much as it should be and not even about the man who wrote her and the women who inspired her as much as it should be. I never got the answer on whether Marston’s wives actually even liked each other? I mean it seemed like they did and they both consented to share a husband. I was really hoping to learn more about the two of them and their relationship with each other but I guess there’s only so much we can learn now.
The point I’m getting to is that this book takes a long time to get to the point and then is a bit of a let down. If it had been relabeled to be more about feminism I would have picked it up for that but I went in expecting different things from this rambling book.
First read: June 4, 2015.
I had to reread since I'm teaching it in my superheroes class
I had to reread since I'm teaching it in my superheroes class
The information about the creator of Wonder Woman and the women in his life is fascinating. It can stand on its own. Unfortunately, Lepore's writing feels as if she doesn't believe the information is good enough. Too often, the writing seemed to set me up to gasp, even though it had already provided me with the "shocking" fact moments before. I stopped halfway through, too frustrated to continue.
I just finished the audiobook of this and I still can’t figure out if the « creator » of Wonder Woman was a manipulative control freak or not.
Lots of good history of the women’s movement from Suffrage on up to pretty much now. Interesting info about the comics industry. Generally good but yeah, confusing.
Lots of good history of the women’s movement from Suffrage on up to pretty much now. Interesting info about the comics industry. Generally good but yeah, confusing.
This book could have been so much more interesting if it just told the story of Marston and his unorthodox family. Trying to tie in so many other people just made it way too convoluted and so much of this seemed like it had nothing to with the creation of Wonder Woman.
Also more than half of the book is notes, acknowledgements and illustration credits so if you're on an e-reader and think you have 45% of the book left, you actually have about 5% left.
Also more than half of the book is notes, acknowledgements and illustration credits so if you're on an e-reader and think you have 45% of the book left, you actually have about 5% left.
More a biography of her inspirations and creator. Interesting at times but not my cup of tea.