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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: A Critical Edition

Reviews of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

While literary critics have noted a few reviews, there were more that have gone unexplored, including many not listed in typical book review indexes. The below timeline shows all known contemporary book reviews of Blondes, with copies of the original documents and a brief gloss. You can go to a review to see the document image on its own by clicking on the title in the timeline or in the full list of reviews after the timeline. You can read a transcription of the review by clicking on the transcription link at the end of the review summary text in the timeline.

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Frederick Donaghey's review of GPB appeared in this this theater column because of the early news that the book would be adapted to the stage. While he loved the novel's humor, he cast doubt on its suitability as a stage show, presaging the critical fate of the initial theatrical production. He also questions the quality of Barton's illustrations, an unusual stance among the critics. Read transcription.
This anonymous editorial review of GPB is the most blatant criticism of the novel, lamenting its portrayal of sex as a lapse in morality. The commentary is more direct about Lorelei's escapades than other writers, referring to it as "the story of two young prostitutes." The review complains, "It lacks even the stereotyped subterfuges with which the usual sex appeal literature covers up its pornographics." This judgement led to a reader response seen in the next review. Read transcription.
In this reader response to the moralistic condemnation of Blondes in a prior editorial in the same newspaper, the writer defends GPB by pointing to its satirical elements and its condemnation of a culture where prostitution has become a general state of affairs: "The condition she has so unaffectedly caught is by no means confined to prostitutes--or even to semi-prostitutes. It is a widespread attitude of mind--a sign of the times, as your writers truly says, but a sign of the commercialized times, as he carefully does not say." Read transcription.
George Jean Nathan's glowing review of the novel leads to a more muted endorsement of the play adaptation of the GPB. He praises Loos in connection with Ring Lardner, claiming they both rise above others who write jokes that they then put into characters mouths and instead focus on the characters first, letting the jokes come naturally. "On the surface we have simply a burlesque show, but in the cellar under the stage, hidden from view, we have some cunning analysis of character that serves as the burlesque show's stoutest prop." Read transcription.