Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1: 1884-1933

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 921 EAN: 9780140094602 ISBN: 0140094601 Label: Penguin Manufacturer: Penguin Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 608 Publication Date: 1993-03-01 Publisher: Penguin Studio: Penguin
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Editorial Reviews: Cook hit a nerve with her portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt--the brave, fierce, passionate, political heroine of our century. A national bestseller, her authoritative biography has been celebrated by feminists, historians, politicians, potential first ladies, and by reviewers everywhere. Now this seminal work depicting the life and achievements of an inspiring First Lady is available in trade paperback. Photographs.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1: 1884-1933 Comment: I happened across Vol. 2 of this biography and procrastinated on actually reading it for several months--it is a LARGE volume and I was kind of put off at the seemingly enormous task of reading the tome. Once I started reading, I stayed with it. The book is well written and I found Eleanor to be a most intriguing figure. Something that kept me interested was the similarity between the issues in the United States in Eleanor's day and the issues currently. I found myself wishing everyone would read the biography, as a kind of refresher course in history. Maybe our country's leaders could be more effective in leading our nation away from economic disaster and loss of a middle class if they were reminded of what happened in the first half of the 20th century. Volume 2 of the biography made such an impact on my thinking, I felt compelled to locate Volume 1. I have not finished reading it yet, but so far, it has not disappointed. Blanche Wiesen Cook is a thorough and skilled researcher and an excellent writer. One should not be put off at the size of the two volumes--Reading these two volumes of Eleanor Roosevelt's life is very much worth the effort! Customer Rating: Summary: A Feminist Reading of the Life and Times of Eleanor Roosevelt Comment: For many Americans, Eleanor Roosevelt is more a myth than an actual person. In the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. there is a whole floor devoted to American presidents, but just a small wing devoted to our First Ladies, or more specifically their inaugural gowns. While visiting the museum, I picked up a poster of Eleanor Roosevelt, with a nice quote that reads something like, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent." Other than my poster, the only thing I knew about Eleanor Roosevelt was what my grandmother, who grew up during the Depression and Roosevelt years, had told me: "She sure was ugly." When Eleanor Roosevelt's letters to Lorena Hickok were revealed to the public in 1978, and questions about the true nature of their relationship arose, author Blanche Wiesen Cook, a historian and women's studies professor, was intrigued to answer the challenge of determining who Eleanor Roosevelt really was. In her book, "Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One, 1884-1933," Cook promises to give readers a fuller view of Eleanor Roosevelt - not just the mythic character, but the actual story behind the woman, an independent power in her own right. "Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One, 1884-1933" is, in essence, a feminist reading of the life and times of Eleanor Roosevelt, telling her story chronologically up to 1933, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes President of the United States. Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood, as would be expected, is crucial to understanding her identity. Although she grows up in a privileged family in New York - her uncle Theodore is President of the United States - her childhood is "filled with disappointment, alcoholism, and betrayal." Eleanor Roosevelt's mother casts Eleanor aside as ugly and too serious. Although her father is an alcoholic, Eleanor adores him, as he encourages her to be courageous and bold and wants her to be self-reliant and self-fulfilled. Both of her parents die before she turns 11, leaving Eleanor to be raised by relatives who mostly conform to the ideals in place during the 1890s. It is not until she is sent to Marie Souvestre's school in Europe that she is first "given permission to be herself." Marie Souvestre is an unconventional feminist and her school is unusual in that it encourages girls to be independent at a time when education is considered to be dangerous to a woman's mental health. Marie Souvestre's role in Eleanor's life is second only to her father's, as Marie Souvestre appreciates Eleanor's talents and encourages her to discover and develop her capabilities. Upon graduation, though, Eleanor Roosevelt faces the realities of her time, as she is torn between the new self-sufficient world she has discovered through her schooling in Europe and the traditions of her mothers and relatives in New York. Ultimately, Eleanor Roosevelt accepts her prescribed role as a woman, goes courting, and secretly becomes engaged to her cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to the chagrin of his possessive mother Sara. Eleanor becomes increasingly dependent on Franklin, feeling "absolutely lost" when he is away. After they are married, Eleanor is forced to move in to his family home with his mother; as a result, she is never able to have her own home and instead relies on her mother-in-law for everything, as she essentially runs their lives and is the loudest voice in raising their children, leaving Eleanor without a role in her own family and without "self-confidence and ability to look after [herself]." Whereas, to be loved by Marie Souvestre had "meant to display an independent spirit with individual flavor, and a playful imagination," to be loved by Sara "meant to become fully like Sara." It is here that Eleanor loses her identity, mimicking Sara's views, including "flip, class-bound arrogance and egregious racism." It is not until 1918, when the "bottom drops out" of Eleanor Roosevelt's world, that she reflects on her life and determines what she wants of it. While previously Eleanor has had a romantic view of her marriage, upon discovering Franklin's letters from his mistress, Lucy Mercer, Eleanor Roosevelt becomes dejected and depressed and develops what the author characterizes as anorexia. After a period of reflection and introspection, ultimately she resolves to design herself an "independent life" that serves to meet her own needs and reclaim her separate identity. After 1923, Eleanor and Franklin live essentially separate lives, as Eleanor accepts Missy LeHand's role as his "second wife" and develops her own separate circle of friends separate from his. While Franklin works toward rehabilitating his legs after developing polio, Eleanor works on her own career and becomes a national figure in her own right, including an important role as an educator, owning and teaching at a progressive school called Todhouse, and encouraging a new generation of female students just as she had been encouraged by Marie Souvestre. Finally, Eleanor seems to complete her personal journey as a woman through her romantic relationships with Earl Miller, her bodyguard, and Lorena Hickok, an esteemed reporter from the Associated Press, who both champion Eleanor Roosevelt and promote her best interests, giving her personal fulfillment. Through these relationships, she is no longer alone, but has the support system she will need to face her next big challenge - the White House. In telling the arc of Eleanor Roosevelt's journey to becoming an independent woman, "Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1" is what it claims to be - a life and times of Eleanor Roosevelt through 1933. Although the writing style is dry and the book starts off slowly, it ultimately succeeds in explaining who Eleanor Roosevelt was - her struggles to find her own identify and to put herself in a position of power where she doesn't need her husband to define her own self-worth. But because the book ends at 1933, we learn more about who Eleanor Roosevelt is and less about why she is such an important historical figure. Also, because this book is necessarily about Eleanor as an independent person, she emerges as a fully-fleshed three-dimensional figure, while Franklin comes off as a flat, ordinary, two-dimensional character. As a result, the book sparks even more questions than it answers. Why did Eleanor marry Franklin? What was the true nature of their partnership? What were her greatest accomplishments? And why should we care about Eleanor Roosevelt? While I had not originally planned to, I now intend to read "Eleanor Roosevelt: The Defining Years, Volume 2" by the same author, as well as "F.D.R." by Jean Edward Smith and "No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin to help answer these additional questions and learn not just about who Eleanor Roosevelt was, but why she mattered. Customer Rating: Summary: Loved it. A sympathetic, scholarly chronicle of ER from her childhood on Comment: Readers disappointed with the lack of analysis in this book are looking for another animal -- a more supple, lovelier, livlier, or more analytic one. This is a narrative mammoth, wherein Cook revives ER through dense documentary detail. I especially enjoyed the detail about her upbringing, her families, and influential relatives. With all of the details woven into this chronicle, it'd just get convoluted to add more flourish, conjecture, and analysis. I would not like to see details cut for the sake of these. The notable exception is Cook's willingness to speculate about the amorous nature of ER's friendships. Even here, she cites documentation, and chronicles what has been destroyed, gone missing, and where interview questions were refused. Cook is forthright about her motivation to venture out further here in order to counter popular conjecture about ER as sexually frigid. Cook has provided groundwork for any number of less academic biographies. I too would love to see other kinds of biographies of ER, other than narrative: a philosophic biography analyzing the significance of her actions in her time; a descriptive biography of her character or biopic film. For a lovelier portrait of her perspective and character, read her own works or The Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt. For broader context and significance, there really isn't enough, but try Kearns-Goodwin. For details, chronology, and narrative, read both volumes of this. I'd love to see a biopic made out of it. Customer Rating: Summary: Could not put this book down Comment: I found both volumes of Ms. Cook's books fascinating. I could not wait to return to them. I learned a lot about Eleanor and the time in which she lived. I will buy copies of both for all my children and suggest that my grands read them as well. Customer Rating: Summary: How did this ever become a national bestseller? Comment: This nonsensical bio is written entirely from a blind feminist perspective. The research is suspect. The prose amateurish. The details gossipy and contrived. If Eleanor Roosevelt was truly a woman of thought and progressivism, then Cook has done her an unforgivable disservice. If you're looking to understand Roosevelt's honest-to-goodness place in history, you will not find it is this intellectually offensive work. More Reviews