Product Description

The Ziegfeld Follies, Florenz Ziegfeld's stage spectacular, promised the best performers, the most lavish sets, and the most ravishing girls. At fourteen, Doris Eaton Travis became one of these prized beauties.

Over the past century, Doris has performed for presidents and princesses, entertained Gershwin, Lindbergh, and Astaire, starred in silent and talking pictures, bantered with Babe Ruth, offended Henry Ford, outlived six siblings, written a newspaper column, hosted a television show, earned a Phi Beta Kappa degree in history, raised turkeys, and raced horses. Doris has lived through it all with utmost grace and strength of character—and never missed a step.

While Today, The Tonight Show, CNN, Rosie O'Donnell, 20/20 and the New York Times have all showcased Doris, journalist and artist Lauren Redniss tells Doris's singular story in an utterly original way. Weaving archival imagery with compelling prose, Redniss has created a narrative landscape that is as surreal and delightful as it is rich with meaning.

Immensely fun, seductive, inspiring, and wise (much like its star attraction, Doris Eaton Travis), Century Girl is an innovation in storytelling. It can be read as a graphic narrative or a historical tapestry, or simply relished for its stunning visual effect.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #409990 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-12
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .3 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Similar in approach to a graphic novel, this biography-in-collage tackles the life of Ziegfeld Follies star Doris Eaton. Each page offers a wild mix of illustrations, doodles, photos and memorabilia from Eaton's archives, accompanied by handwritten text outlining her fascinating life, which comes across like something out of the musical Gypsy. Born in 1904 to a theatre-crazed Virginia family, Eaton was cast in New York's famous Follies at age 14, appeared in numerous silent films, worked for years as a dance instructor and earned her college degree at age 88. New York Times contributor Redniss's surrealist scrapbook approach is striking and unique, captivating readers by twining simple, evocative text with a stunning array of images, splaying words at all angles across the page; though this slows reading, the forced pace gives readers more opportunity to appreciate the book's charms. A worthy experiment in the genre, the visual approach takes precedence over a considered analysis of Eaton's life and career, but interview material with the vivacious showgirl survivor grounds the story. Appropriately, it's an elaborate (and, in the case of the forthcoming limited edition, pricey) spectacle heavy on opulent ocular flash, lighter on substance, and perfect for fans of the Follies.
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Review
“Lauren Redniss takes a graphically provocative approach in telling [Doris Eaton Travis’s] story.” (Daily News )

“My favorite new book this year. . . a visually dazzling melange. . . unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” (Slate (best books of 2006 pick) )

“Striking and unique. . . captivating readers by twining simple, evocative text with a stunning array of images.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

“With Century Girl, Lauren Redniss creates an entirely new genre of biography.” (Nylon magazine )

“The opposite of a page-turner: it’s a page-stopper, a page-savorer, in short: an unmitigated delight.” (Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder and Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences )

“Doris Eaton is the darling of Broadway, a New York treasure.” (Nils Hanson, National Ziegfeld Club )

“I wish Lauren Redniss would write and illustrate my biography in the dreamy, luminous way she did Doris Eaton Travis’s.” (Maira Kalman, author and illustrator )

“Not only did Doris Eaton Travis break records for accomplishment and humanity, she also had great hair and shoes.” (Isaac Mizrahi )

About the Author
A visual journey through the life of Doris Eaton, the only living Ziegfeld girl, whose extraordinary 101 years have spanned the brightest moments in show biz and major historical landmarks of the 20th century, presented and narrated in the author's highly original collage style. The Ziegfeld Follies, Florenz Ziegfeld's stage spectacular, promised the best performers, the most lavish sets, and the most ravishing girls. Doris Eaton Travis at 14, was chosen as the youngest chorus girl in the Follies. Today, at the age of 101, Eaton is the oldest living Ziegfeld girl. Over the past century, she has performed for presidents and princesses, entertained Gershwin, Lindbergh, and Astaire, starred in silent and talking pictures, bantered with Babe Ruth, offended Henry Ford, outlived six siblings, written a newspaper column, hosted a television show, earned a Phi Beta Kappa degree in history, raised turkeys, and raced horses. The Century Girl is a visual tour of this extraordinary woman's journey through the ages. Lauren Redniss's narrative art employs an entirely original collage style, a seamless blend of her trademark line-drawings, hand-written narrative, and archival photos, in a sequence of full-page spreads, each one illustrating a rich chapter in Doris Eaton's life.