Customer Reviews

East To The Dawn: The Life Of Amelia Earhart

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I grew up hearing bits and pieces about Amelia Earhart. There was always the slight inference that she may have been a lesbian and the stories about her possible capture by the Japanese. I found EAST TO THE DAWN illuminating and informative. The author makes Amelia much more of a feminist and political person than I had ever imagined. For example, I did not know about her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. But Amelia's friendship with Nancy Cook and Lorena Hitchock and involvment in the Val Kil project made me think that there may have been some validity to the rumors about her life style. It's also interesting how much the government did for her on her flights. The possible capture by the Japanese seems to me looking back in retrospect that it could be a form of very suttle anti Japanese propaganda. One of the previous reviewers commented that EAST TO THE DAWN finds no fault with Amelia - she was perfect in every way. Thinking about the book in retrospect, there is a lot of validity to that statement. But all in all the book gives a good view of women and their roles in society in the 1920's and 30's. It also give a whole new side of Amelia. As a result of this book I want to read more about Amelia. The author's conclusion that Amelia became bigger in death than she may have been in life is also valid but Amelia is one of those American icons that will live on and on because she died so young and under strange circumstances.

Ms. Butler's book, written more or less to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Earhart's birth and the 60th of her final flight, is a hagiography, almost without critical balance. Earhart's very real accomplishments as social pioneer and aviator are fully documented, but all too fulsomely presented. Apparently everything she did was brilliant, every man she attracted was a genius, every record-breaking flight a triumph. The author (descended from a flying contemporary of Amelia Earhart) claims to have spent ten years researching and writing this book. She would have done well to include more of the flip side of Amelia Earhart: the sometime publicity hound who spent more time in front of microphones and cameras instead of practicing her flying skills for the Bendix air races, for example. The book shows more competence in its accounts of the navigation and mechanical problems of early flyers, and here the account of Earhart's final flight is illuminating. There is a concise account of the farrago of radio navigation problems that led to the loss of the Lockheed 10 Electra and its crew. Also, the author rightly debunks the old theories of the flight's having been a mission to spy on the Japanese in the Pacific. After reading this book, you will know a lot more about a person of remarkable courage and class, who should be (and unfortunately is not) a model for the women's movement of today. The book does not treat her complexity with the depth it deserves, but the author's warmth and dedication to her subject are commendable.

EAST TO THE DAWN not only gives the reader an incredibly detailed account of Amelia Earhart's life, but its presentation allows one to have a clear sense of the period, places and people of her life. From childhood in Kansas at the turn of the century, through an exciting adulthood which took her all over the world, you will feel that you are almost there. It is both informative and absorbing.

Reading this book I realized that most of what I knew about Amelia Earhart concerned her famous disappearance and presumed tragic death. Author/journalist Susan Butler wants us to know so much more about this girl genius who built her own roller coaster at age seven and started flying as soon as she was old enough to step inside a cockpit, despite the obvious risks to limb and life. She was attractive to everyone who met her, a prolific and skilled writer and a tireless dedicated social worker. She was also a feminist who never lost her zeal to help the downtrodden or her determination to encourage women to be strong and stand up for their right to succeed on their own. The book is an inspiration, reminding us that the living breathing Earhart is the one we should remember. Barbara Bamberger Scott

A few years ago, when I first began reading and reviewing biographies, I came across an unfamiliar word I had to look up in the dictionary - "hagiography." The first definition said "a biography of Saints" and the second "a worshipful or idealizing biography." And this book is an excellent example of a hagiography, especially that second definition.

Most people have heard of Amelia Earhart, famous aviatrix who vanished somewhere over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to fly around the world in 1937. I wasn't aware she was also a social worker and pioneer for women's rights. And parts of this book were interesting, such as her upbringing and efforts to reach new milestones of air travel, and the book description claims to have previously unknown information. The account of her disappearance was interesting, and doesn't wander excessively far into unsubstantiated theories. But the tone of the book is far too worshipful. Ms. Butler paints an Amelia Earhart who was always a self-assured, unflappable, imperturbable, cool and collected woman in easy control of all aspects of her life; who never had doubts or second-thoughts, regrets or misgivings. She portrays her marital infidelity as courageous, strong, fearless, and even practical. She seems to take all quotes at face value rather than showing any healthy skepticism expected of a historian. She spends too much time discussing Earhart's genealogy while the ending feels a bit abrupt. And it all seems too much to believe.

I'm not saying a biography has to expose dirt to be believable, but when the subject is portrayed as perfect it just doesn't feel realistic. In fact, reading between the lines, Earhart almost comes off as unpleasantly conceited and something of a celebrity press hound. Also, most of her flights seem mostly unremarkable. That may not be a fair conclusion, but a reader couldn't tell from this book. I'd rather learn about the struggles the person surmounted, personal and public, that makes their life and accomplishments worth reading about. I'd like to know the person was human. And this is too substantial of a book to invest time in (nearly 19 hours in audio book format) if it's not balanced or honest. If you're only interested in one Earhart biography like me, I recommend looking for a better one.

Susan Butler's 1997 biography of Amelia Earhart is enormously researched; the original edition was 512 pages and the Blackstone audio version runs nearly 19 hours. I was largely ignorant of Earhart's life story and that has now been corrected, though Butler's admiration of her subject may be slightly excessive.

The first section deals in depth with Earhart's family heritage and the circumstances that brought her forbears to Atchison, Kansas, where Amelia was born in 1897. Her girlhood is likewise documented extensively. Money worries plagued the immediate family as her father became an alcoholic and was not effective at supporting the family. In 1920 she moved to California where her parents had settled and had her first airplane ride. Determined to fly, she worked at a variety of menial jobs to fund her passion. She was a keen competitive flyer and promoter of aviation and of women's ability and right to compete.

Butler quotes liberally from primary sources. The sheer mass of material, though well presented, doesn't offer any specific premise about Amelia. We know that she was passionate about education for women; that she was an effective speaker and organizer; that she was reluctant to marry though not to fall in love; when she did marry George Butler, he acted as her agent and promoter. We know that she was an intimate friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and was able to influence FDR on matters favorable to her lover, Gene Vidal. She wore celebrity as if it were a birthright, but also worked hard at it in the name of the causes important to her. The author steers clear of controversy and criticism of Amelia's personal life.

Besides the vast amount of detail about Amelia's life, East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart is a window into the history and culture of the United States from the turn of the 20th century and especially into the heady and dangerous early days of aviation. Butler's minutiae about Amelia's most famous flights are fascinating and the technical specifics of the equipment are presented in a satisfyingly accessible manner.

Though Amelia's final and fatal attempt to cross the Pacific is documented in the usual detail, the book ends with surprisingly little wrap-up. In the end I had the feeling that I knew almost too much about the woman, without knowing the woman well at all. Perhaps she was unknowable in some way. I recommend this book on many levels, but don't expect the rich lode of material to be synthesized into a tidy package; you'll have to do that yourself.

Linda Bulger, 2010

Gore Vidal wrote that East to the Dawn is the only biography "which recreates accurately that singular woman whom my father was in love with, as indeed was I, aged ten, when the the lady vanished."
He is right. It is a fascinating read. Earhart comes alive in these pages as in no other biography. East to the Dawn got first billing as the inspiration for the movie Amelia.

This book was so throughly researched, I felt as if I watched Amelia grow up. She became a wonderful example of what any girl could become if allowed to be a little daring. It will be very interesting to see how closely the movie sticks to the facts. "Just the facts,Ma'am."

I have long been fascinated with Amelia Earhart and am impressed with how both the person and the legend spring to life in this riveting book. Susan Butler shows herself to be a superb researcher as well as a gifted story teller. There will always be unanswered questions regarding the circumstances surrounding Earhart's death, but after reading East to the Dawn I am satisfied that the bigger story will always be the story of her life. I just learned that a movie based on the book is about to be released. I can't wait to see it. If it is half as gripping as the book, it is bound to be a blockbuster success.

Susan Butler has combined faultless research with first-rate writing to bring Amelia Earhart into sharp focus. The book reads as though she knew Earhart, liked her, and understood what made her soar. One of the best biographies I have read in a long time.