As America was stepping into the modern era, one great beauty became the artist’s model of choice. Her perfect form became the emblem of the Gilded Age and appears on the greatest monuments of New York and the nation. Supermodel, actress, icon—her beauty paved the way for a life of glamour, passion, and ultimately tragedy. She dated the millionaires of the fashionable Newport colony, became the first American movie star ever to appear naked in a film, but her promising film career collapsed, her doctor fell in love with her and killed his own wife, and on her fortieth birthday, her mother committed her to an insane asylum. She remained there until her death in 1996 at the age of 104 and is now buried in an unmarked grave. Her name is Audrey Munson.
Many readers will recognize Audrey Munson, and have walked by her in the street, without even knowing her name. She stands atop New York’s Municipal Building. She sits as “Miss Manhattan” and “Miss Brooklyn” outside the Brooklyn Museum, is immortalized on the Manhattan Bridge, the Frick Mansion, the New York Public Library, and the Pulitzer Fountain outside the Plaza Hotel. In gold, bronze, and stone, she still graces bridges, skyscrapers, fountains, churches, monuments, and public buildings across the nation, from Jacksonville to San Francisco, from Atlanta to the Wisconsin state capitol.
From James Bone, the former New York Bureau Chief of The Times of London, this brilliantly reported investigative biography reveals, for the first time, the riveting truth of the forgotten life of an iconic beauty.
HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a book about Audrey Munson who should be famous, but is not. She is “Miss Manhattan”, “Miss Brooklyn”, she adjourns the Frick museum, New York public library, Plaza hotel, skyscrapers, bridges, fountains, churches, public buildings, and the Wisconsin State capital, she is across the country but no one has heard of her. She also was the first to appear nude in a film. This book is filled with a lot of information about her and the men, and other people around her. The sad part is that from the age of 40 to her death in 1996 she lived in an insane asylum, she was 104 when she died. It was her mother that had her committed. Before that though she dated millionaires, was a model, vacation at Newport. There is so much more to this story. A story about a person I am sure many of us have never heard of. Overall a good book at times a little long in places but overall a good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
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