Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

1925, 1963 Curtis Books edition
Anita Loos
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady
"Intimately Illustrated by Ralph Barton"
Original price $1.25, bought used for unknown
Worn paperback
B

First of all, the book has almost no resemblance to the 1950s movie.  (I don't know about the 1920s movie.)  Some of the names and personalities, and the general going-to-Europe plot, are the same, but this diary includes much more of Lorelei's thoughts, and, yes, I'm using that term for lack of a better.

Intellectuals loved this book when it came out-- the back cover quotes Mencken, James Joyce, Santayana, and Wharton-- and it was generally popular.  I've read it countless times, partly because it's so light and short.  If I can't rate it higher, it's probably because the originality has worn off and I do get a bit tired of the constant lookism.  Yes, it's funny when Dorothy tells Lady Beekman, "You have got to be the Queen of England to get away with a hat like that," but after awhile I'm sick of hearing how ugly most of the women other than Lorelei and Dorothy are, particularly Lorelei's future mother-in-law.

It's amusing to compare this to a Lewis novel.  (I don't know, but I'm guessing that Lewis enjoyed the writing of his almost-namesake, if Mencken and Wharton did.)  Unlike Carol Kennicott, Lorelei triumphs over her society, getting everything she wants and, as "Dr. Froyd" observes, having no inhibitions.  Although Mencken told Loos, "Little girl, you're making fun of sex and that's never been done in the U.S.A. before," I'd argue that Lewis had made fun of sex in Babbitt, although certainly not to the extent that Loos does.  Of course, all the Loos sex is implied, but we're meant to take "professional lady" as a double entendre.

One surprisingly similar aspect of both L-writers is that both Arrowsmith and Lorelei try to read Joseph Conrad as part of a doomed attempt at education.  In her case, she always gives books to her maid to read and report back on.  She almost makes a mistake and gives Lulu the wrong Conrad novel, The Nigger of the Narcissus.  The N-word has also appeared in Lewis, as well as A Passage to India, and of course Mark Twain.  It's outside the purpose of this blog to trace its usage in fiction, but, yes, I am aware of it, as I am of swear-words, although I'll only comment on it if I feel it's noteworthy.  Suffice to say, I'm decades before the time of political correctness, and some 1920s (and earlier) authors use ethnic slurs with awareness and sensitivity, and some (hello, Caricature) don't.

I do want to comment on gay stereotypes though.  In her introduction, Loos tells of a recent television interview, where she was asked what her new theme would be, if she was writing the story almost forty years later.  She answered, "Gentlemen Prefer Gentlemen."  Perhaps because of her long involvement in show biz, Loos seems pretty relaxed about homosexuality, and so she can joke about it as comfortably as she can about heterosexuality.  This will come up more in Gentleman's 1927 sequel, but even here she makes jokes about men who "batik" (since gay men are artistic) and women who dress like men and love cars.

Loos's introduction also tells of how seriously her first novel was taken in Russia.  There are some heavy issues in it, including attempted murder, but Loos's tone throughout is both light and sardonic, and always mischievous.  She's more Dorothy than Lorelei-- the novel was inspired by an incident where hair color mattered-- but there's no question that Lorelei has her grudging admiration.

The illustrations add to the fun, sometimes literally showing what the text conveys and other times undercutting it.  The second-most famous real-life person mentioned is the Prince of Wales, and Barton draws him, as well as somehow nude "Foley Bergere" dancers without actually showing any nudity.  And he perfectly conveys Dorothy and Lorelei's personalities.