Not a fast read - this book is dense with facts. But it's well-organized and easy to read. I really love the insights presented - the author builds a compelling description of how the changes before and during the flapper era went far to make American culture what it is today. ( )

Great reading about coming out of the Victoria era from all angels: literary; fashion; writing, etc. ( )

This is a good history of an interesting era but I thought it spent entirely too many pages on Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. There are several chapters dedicated to them alone. I would have liked a wider view of the women of the 1920s instead of too much time spent on Zelda Fitzgerald, whose story is so depressing. There was so much going on at that time, I would have liked to read more of it! ( )

The flapper was the first modern American woman. She cut her hair, wore short skirts, smoked, drank, danced, and kept up with men. She went out to get what she wanted and rejected the notions of her mother and grandmother. This is a light history of the flapper movement, along with stories of famous flappers such as Zelda Fitzgerald and Clara Bow. It is an interesting look at a decade that was in many ways the first modern decade. ( )

In this extremely accessible and far from dry (in many senses of the word) cultural history, Joshua Zeitz captures the zeitgeist of the 20s, an era where liberty was measured more in material things than in personal rights. Each section is framed with anecdotes about influential characters and institutions like F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Lois Long from the early days of "The New Yorker," fashion phenom Coco Chanel, and silver screen stars Louise Brooks, Colleen Moore, and Clara Bow. Whether portraying the flapper phenomenon through the lens of sexuality, feminism, race, or popular culture, Zeitz has given us a complete and compelling read. -Emily