Customer Reviews

Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners

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Emily Post is written with thorough attention to detail, skillfully intertwining the private, public, and mythical icon into a very real person. Ms. Claridge intersperses this biography on with so many entertaining anecdotes that despite being a lengthy biography, it has a light touch. Ms. Claridge's writing has the wonderful combination of being both intellectually satisfying and very readable at the end of a long day.

Laura Claridge has written the definitive biography of Emily Post. A long account at nearly 550 pages, the author has included every piece of information about her family of origin, her childhood, disasterous marriage and arbitrator of American manners. Fortunately, her chatty conversational style of writing saves the reader when one reads information that has little to do with the story. Ms. Post had an interesting life that became immortal when she decided to write a book about proper behavior in 1922. Being the first to do so made her famous and alone in her field for three decades. The author includes the cultural surroundings of her life to make this a book for the reader to go back in time. Her life stretched from the post Civil War era to the post World War II era until her death at the age of 88.

I have to admit. I had a really hard time getting through this book. It took me 6 or 8 weeks to finish it. (I read Kushiel's Scion (Kushiel's Legacy) which has 200 more pages in 3 weeks, so it was more the lack of interest in the material's presentation than the length of the book.) When Shana asked for some one to take over the responsibility of this book I thought, "How interesting. She must have lead an exciting life." Well, she did lead a fairly exciting life, but the presentation was so dry.

Emily Post was related to the Roosevelt's (she thought Eleanor was too involved in politics and causes), she wrote more than Etiquette and played in the concrete base of the Statue of Liberty! I know I would have enjoyed Emily Post much more if I could have taken my time and read it in pieces over a few months rather than with a deadline. If you have more than a passing interest in Emily Post herself or in the periods that this book covers (1920's to 1950's) I'd recommend this book.

A good but long read...the first half of the book deals with Mrs. Post before her divorce ... the second half is after her divorce for Edwin Post and her writing and Interior Design careers...in the first half the reader is not to sure that the writer has her subject in very high esteem, the second the author becomes more sympathetic to her subject. This may be due to the authors illness and the when she wrote each part.

This is a detailed biography not only about Emily Post but American culture from post Civil War to the 1960's. Tracing this evolution through the work of Emily is not a unique idea but Ms. Claridge does a good job of blending the transitions through the writing of the ten editions of Ms. Post main body of work on American manners.

This was a really great book! Laura Claridge takes into the world of Emily Price Post. Ms. Claridge give the reader amazing details of a woman who was born after the Civil War and in the gilded age. Emily Post was so much than the person brought manners the everyday American. She was a woman who durning the time when very few would divorced her husband after a series of affairs and then set out not to only to create a new life but a career. And for years, Emily Post was the for most expert on manners. Overall, "Emily Post" by Laura Claridge is a great book and show not be missed

If you are interested in the Gilded Age - you will love this book! It started out a tedious read, very confusing at times, as the author tried to set up Emily's heritage. After the first few chapters, the story takes off, delving in to the world of the Social Register & their member's privileged lives. Emily Post led a most interesting & full life, an astute business woman ahead of her time. But she also had her share of tragedies, disappointments & loneliness. Laura Claridge captures the essence of Emily and pays tribute to this remarkable woman and her everlasting legacy.

"Everything you ever wanted to know about society and etiquette. The perfect book for the person who is impossible to buy for. The compelling and remarkable story of a woman who overcame life's hurdles with style and grace to become the queen of what to and not to do."

This book was reccommended by the magazine Good Housekeeping, and that alone intrigued me. It is a long book, as others here have stated. And it should be as Emily Post had such a long bountiful life. This book is rich in descriptions of how Emily Post as well as her family and her friends lived during the Gilded Age. For me it was a page turner as the author took a a one-dimensional person -- I only knew her as the "maven of manners" --and told a facinating and amazing account of the life of Emily Post. She was a trail blazer for women and lived life to the max. Who knew she rendered architctural designs, configured the first co-op, broke through that never to do divorce and authored novels? This book is as rich as Emily Post.

I had my reservations about the topic, but it was very well done. Flowed very well and I was never bored with mundane details. :)

This was a Christmas gift for my daughter and therefore I have not read the book. It did come in perfect condition and in a timely manner.