| Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Intimate Diary of a Professional Lady | |
|---|---|
Cover of the first edition |
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| Author(s) | Anita Loos |
| Illustrator | Ralph Barton |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Boni & Liveright |
| Publication date | 1925 |
| Media type | Hardcover, paperback |
| Followed by | But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes |
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady[1] is a comic novel written by Anita Loos first published in 1925. Loos was inspired to write the book after watching a sexy blonde turn intellectual H. L. Mencken into a lovestruck schoolboy. Mencken, a close friend, actually enjoyed the work and saw to it that it was published. Originally published as a magazine series in Harper's Bazaar, it was published as a book by Boni & Liveright in 1925 and became a runaway best seller, becoming the second best selling title of 1926 and earning the praise of no less than Edith Wharton who dubbed it "The great American novel."
A sequel, But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, was published two years later.
Contents |
The story concerns a golddigging, young, blonde-haired American woman named Lorelei who, after advice from a male friend, begins to place her thoughts on paper in a diary. (The entire story is written in diary form with deliberate spelling errors by Loos). Lorelei is friends with Dorothy and the button-manufacturer Gus Eisman, who is concerned to 'educate' her. The novel follows her as she meets people, goes shopping, attends parties, etc. She goes with Dorothy to Europe and travels through England, France, and Germany meeting many people (including Sigmund Freud, who appears as 'Dr. Froyd'), and experiencing the sights. Eventually, she marries a wealthy American named Henry.
TIME headed its review of the book as "Moronese" and compared it to The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion in the Year 1764-65 by Cleone Knox.[2]
The book was filmed twice and made into a Broadway musical in 1949 starring Carol Channing. The first film version was released in 1928 and starred Ruth Taylor and Alice White. Better known is the 1953 film version of the musical, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.
The novel's characters were licensed for use in a daily newspaper comic strip series that ran from April to September 1926. The comic strip used the novel's characters in new gag situations -- it was not an adaptation of the novel as such. Although the writing was credited to Loos, it was presumably ghosted by the artists, Virginia Huget and Phil Cook. The original series was also distributed in reprints to newspapers circa 1929 to early 1930s.[3]