Though a portrait of Myerson, who still has the distinction of being the only Jewish Miss America, this book is also part social history, as it explores the importance of that event, especially in light of the Allied defeat of the Third Reich. In her rise to national recognition, Myerson faced sexism and anti-Semitism but overcame it all. The 1987 text is complemented by numerous monochrome photos.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Review
"Miss America, 1945," reads with all the suspense not of a whodunit but of a who-won-it. -- James Kirkwood
A fascinating and thought-provoking book about 1945 as seen through the eyes of a Jewish girl who won a beauty title. It's about the boys coming home crippled from the war to a world not ready to deal with them. It's about Jewish Americans finding out about the horror of the Holocaust and how that made their Miss America a symbol of hope. It's about growing up poor and Jewish in New York City in the Depression. And it's also about Bess Myerson. -- Milwaukee Journal
A human and social portrait of immediate postwar days as seen from many different angles, each as American as cheesecake. It is a story of women, of Jews, of the Miss America pageant, and of Bess Myerson herself. -- Ellen Goodman, The New York Times Book Review
Intriguing social history. -- Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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