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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
A LOT of background history before it got interesting. But I found the second half of the book worth it. Fascinating.
Fascinating read tying together a broad swath of feminist history and the mysterious backstory of Wonder Woman. It stretches all the way back to the early beginnings of the suffrage movement in 1848 and extends into the 1970's. Wonder Woman doesn't take shape until the 1940's so you can imagine that there's a lot of back story here -- and what a back story it is! In addition to the suffrage movement there's a fair amount of Margaret Sanger and the birth control movement which I loved. But the kicker is the family behind the creation of Wonder Woman. To say the least there was a very unusual family arrangement that was either wildly degrading to the adults involved or wildly liberating.
Truly fascinating. And amazingly researched and detailed (actually sometimes too detailed - this is not a tidy historical account, Lepore weaves about a million threads together and my one criticism is that there's so much going on that it can sometimes be hard to follow).
Truly fascinating. And amazingly researched and detailed (actually sometimes too detailed - this is not a tidy historical account, Lepore weaves about a million threads together and my one criticism is that there's so much going on that it can sometimes be hard to follow).
informative
I read this to get ready for her movie! It was interesting enough to read about the creator(s) of Wonder Woman, but I wanted more about how the character has changed over the years, and her impact on feminism. Basically what's in the epilogue, but in a lot more depth.
informative
medium-paced
This was a fascinating, thorough account of the history of Wonder Woman and the way this history intersects with the suffrage movement, early modern feminism and the power of Wonder Woman herself. Lepore does a good job examining the early history of Wonder Woman, and creating a narrative account of her history. This work pins down the history of one of the most pivotal American superheroes, and reveals the intersects of sex and feminism underlying her character.
I feel that the research done on this book was phenomenal. However, Marston himself is so insufferable that reading this book was painful. Sure, the research was well done and the writing was smooth, but the subject matter was awful. I feel like the fact that Wonder Woman has become what she is today is in spite of her creator and directly because of all the women supporting her.
I would caution comic book fans that they might find it dry and not enough about Wonder Woman/the comics as it is much more a history/biography of the people involved and the feminist movement of the time, etc. Not quite what I was expecting, but I likely would have read it sooner had I known what it would be... I kind of greatly enjoyed what a trainwreck Marston was, especially given how much the women in his life forgave him and how humored he was by some of his coworkers. He was presumably quite impressively armed with charm (and ability to spin?) in order to make up for his inabilities, employment struggles, stubbornness, proclivity towards exploiting others, and an over inflated ego/tendency to narcissism. He was just such an unlikely character to nestle into the circles he did... I love that! He felt more real and multi-dimensional than flawed biography subjects tend to be portrayed. Not sure how this made it on my library wish list but I am glad it did. It was a bizarre ride, but worth it.
This is a really interesting book. Don't be deceived by the cover or title - it's not a comics history book. While all of this personal background to Marston, Holloway and Byrne's lives is interesting and crucial to the understanding of Wonder Woman as a character and what she presents, if you're reading this just because you like comics, you will probably be disappointed. But if, like me, you like the sound of a fascinating personal history, tied up in early 20th C feminism, birth control and family politics, then this is a book for you. Lepore uses panels from Wonder Woman comics throughout to demonstrate the influence the events she describes had on Marston's work, and she shines as a feminist historian (less so a comics historian).