Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

the illuminating diary of a professional lady

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Anita Loos: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (American English language, 1925, Boni & Liveright)

American English language

Published Dec. 29, 1925 by Boni & Liveright.

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4 stars (3 reviews)

18 editions

As funny as Wodehouse

4 stars

The book came first, and then the play featuring Carol Channing as Lorelei, and then the movie starring Marilyn Monroe, and those things created the earworm “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” But the book established all that, and while it may not have the same qualities as a song, it has plenty of charm. Written as if entries into a diary, it’s all told in Lorelei’s breathless prose, which often runs on for longer than it should, complete with misspellings and repetitions that makes it seems she’s talking directly to you. You quickly discover that Lorelei isn’t as naîve as she portrays herself, but it’s her friend Dorothy who steals the show with her one liners rendered faithfully by her friend.

This is comedy in the style of P.G. Wodehouse or Thorne Smith, although favoring the latter in its playful sexual implications. (Wodehouse’s characters aren’t sexless, but sex is …

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4 stars