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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Constance Rosenblum's Gold Digger is mesmerizing., March 21, 2000
This review is from: Gold Digger: The Outrageous Life and Times of Peggy Hopkins Joyce (Hardcover)
Ever since the mail man delivered Constance Rosanblum's Gold Digger to us, I was unable to put the book down. Gold Digger is about the life of one of America's self-made, female millionaires at the turn of the 20th century. Lacking class, pedigree, education or talents, the heroine, Peggy Hopkins Joyce, turned herself into a millionaire by marrying millionaires. She was almost 100 years ahead of our times-and succeeded again and again when many of our contemporaries have failed to do so on television. Peggy Joyce was a fascinating character. According to the author, she skillfully manipulated the budding but increasingly powerful media empire to follow her every outrageous moves and whims. Rosanblum's writing brings Peggy Joyce, her spirit, and the spirit of her times alive. Commenting on the rise of newspapers and the psyche of their readers in the 1910's and 20s, Connie writes (page 81): "The swelling audiences for these new papers included both Americans who had not gone past grade school and millions of immigrants struggling with the complexities of English; in recognition, the papers offered news that was simple, dramatic, and most of all fun to read. They did not dwell on the subtleties of foreign policy or the intricacies of political debate. Instead, they concentrated on the verities of human existence-love, hate, life, and death, the gorier the better. They cared not about abstractions but about the grit and glitter of real life-the sexy blonde, the pool of blood, the staccato of the gunman's bullets." I was mesmerized. The book reads like an extended, captivating obituary by a passionate writer who tells us what determination can do to anyone who has it, the fluidity of human morals, the triumphs of a woman in a world dominated by men, and the rise of the ever dominating America media. Rosenblum's Gold Digger made me feel like I was viewing an episode of "American Masters" on TV. The book is a welcome distraction from a neurotic daily life. I learned a little more about modern American history; and I understand a little more about how hard it is to pass judgment on people and events.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Guilty Pleasure, March 14, 2005
This review is from: Gold Digger: The Outrageous Life and Times of Peggy Hopkins Joyce (Hardcover)
Does the name Peggy Hopkins Joyce sound familiar? Probably not, if you're younger than 85. Peggy had minor roles in Ziegfeld's Follies, Broadway plays and various movies, but she was most known for her 6 marriages and the indiscreet affairs she enjoyed through the Roaring Twenties. This is yet another book that starts at the end, with the subject's funeral. I'll burn the next bio that does that! The introduction was mostly gratuitous, with information that could easily have been inserted into the narrative. The one interesting exception was the author's acquisition of a carton that contained Peggy's papers, which included hundreds of articles about her, correspondence from friends, strangers, lovers, potential suitors and businesses, and various notes and items. Peggy learned early that her pretty face, slender figure and nice legs could attract jewelry, fancy clothes, and a luxurious lifestyle, though she'd have to put out to collect. Fortunately, she enjoyed sex. Her numerous affairs were initially scancalous, as the U. S. had still not shaken the combined cultural and legal influences of the Victorian era and the Comstock laws. The resulting media coverage made her one of the most famous women of her time. While she sometimes stretched the truth to exploit her publicity, she was usually frank when discussing her motives. "I'm wondering if I am really mercenary," she admitted. "Perhaps I am, but it is better to be mercenary than miserable." Peggy's timing was impeccable. In 1919, the Illustrated Daily News (soon shortened to Daily News) was founded, inaugurating the tabloid press that covered celebrities exclusively. Peggy cultivated publicity, and became famous for being famous; she didn't even need a press agent. Reporters loved to see her, and since she was usually able to toss off a controversial quote, she was considered good copy. The author contends that Peggy should be remembered as the first media celebrity. She writes of Peggy's effects on the average American: "While the bored and restless housewife reading of Peggy's capers pursed her lips in disapproval, the gesture was tinged with longing. How thrilling to actually be Peggy Joyce, she couldn't have helped but imagine. There in her spartan kitchen or her shabby living room, she must have tried to picture herself slipping yet another string of pearls around her neck or awaiting the arrival of yet another Continental charmer. What woman wouldn't have adored wearing the tiara with the two hundred diamonds, settling that Russian sable around her shoulders, or listening to princes whisper candied words in her ear? As for male readers, of course they all prayed devoutly they would never end up in the clutches of such a vixen, but wasn't she a dish with that slinky figure and that knowing smile, and my God didn't she sound like a pistol in bed? What man inside the courtroom and out didn't undress her with his eyes?" I'd have succumbed, too. This isn't normally my kind of topic, but the writing is so smooth and captivating that I didn't want to leave Peggy's heyday. Granted, I didn't respect myself in the morning.....
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Gold Digger" delivers the goods - but that's all!, March 30, 2001
The first book about a woman whose name is often mentioned in histories of the 1920's and 1930's, GOLD DIGGER chronicles the glitzy life of Peggy Hopkins Joyce (born Marguerite Upton), a woman who lived her life balancing on the fine line between the lower levels of show business and the upper levels of prostitution. Author Constance Rosenblum clearly adores and admires her subject. Copious quotes from Peggy's memoirs and private papers succeed in bringing the racy, iconoclastic Peggy Joyce off the page and into our hearts. Indeed, it is very difficult not to like the "Peggy Hopkins Joyce" recreated in this book. However selfish, thoughtless and greedy she may have been, she was also charismatic, free-spirited and non-judgmental. Ms. Rosenblum's adoration of Joyce is the book's greatest strength and also its greatest weakness. Rosenblum's style, although engaging and witty, never rises above the level of "Entertainment Tonight" celebrity gloss. She deftly twists the sad facts of Joyce's empty life around in an attempt to claim her as some sort of feminist heroine, striking a blow for female self-determination everywhere by bilking yet another rich husband out of his time and money. Perhaps there is some truth in this, yet I noticed that Rosenblum spent the bulk of the book chronicling Joyce's years at the top, throwing together in a short chapter or two the last 20 years of Joyce's life, when the loss of her beauty and celebrity resulted in increasing alcoholism and mental instability. The book reads like some of Joyce's own publicity, which is entertaining, but ultimately we learn very little about who Peggy Hopkins Joyce really was, what propelled her into the spotlight, or what kept her there for years except a fast reputation and extravagant consumption habits. Ms. Rosenblum's attempts to connect Peggy's career to the meteoric rise of the tabloid press in the 1910's are promising, but under-researched. A few quotes from media critics Daniel Bell and Neil Postman suggest that Rosenblum has tried to do some thinking about the actual meaning of her subject's life in a broader historical perspective, but Rosenblum's literary and conceptual skills are not up to this task, and her use of these sources seems like an afterthought. Instead of being an intelligent look at the life of one unusual woman and what her fame meant in our "celebrity"-driven culture, GOLD DIGGER remains an amusing and often titillating bit of delicious fluff. It is very enjoyable on that level, but the book could have used another year's research and rewriting. A sadly wasted opportunity, but a fitting book for an historical figure whose most significant legacy is a box of old clippings from now-defunct newspapers.
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