|
|
Blanche Wiesen Cook
|
|
|
|
Names Index:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
S T
U V
W X
Y Z
| Authors
Index | Scholars
Index |
|
 Eleanor
Roosevelt: Volume One 1884-1933 by
Blanche Wiesen Cook
Eleanor Roosevelt is an extensively
researched, revisionist text which sings praises of one of this
century's most revered and least understood women. Eleanor
Roosevelt was born in 1884 into a prominent American family, but
her childhood was often bitter. Her parents could not offer her
the love and security she needed, and they died when she was very
young. Raised by maternal relatives, she studied for a time in
England, then fell in love with her cousin, Franklin Roosevelt.
She seemed destined to be a socialite wife of a wealthy
politician, and that is how her life has most often been
interpreted. But Blanche Cook chronicles Eleanor Roosevelt's real
life: her political agenda - often refreshingly at odds with the
powerful political arena surrounding her husband - and her
lifelong efforts on behalf of women, children, and workers.
Equally compelling is the author's compassionate and revealing
study of this remarkable woman's personal life. Although her
abiding respect and love for her husband and children is central
to her life, it is Eleanor Roosevelt's passionate friendships with
the independent and sometimes radical women intellectuals of her
time, and in particular, her intense relationship with Lorena
Hickock, which underscore her deep commitment and struggle to
create a separate and fulfilling life for herself. We are left in
awe of this woman, this freethinking iconoclast who bucks
tradition, and of Blanche Cook's inspired telling of Eleanor
Roosevelt's first fifty years. -- From
500
Great Books by Women; review by Rebecca Sullivan
 Eleanor
Roosevelt : Volume 2 , The Defining Years, 1933-1938 by
Blanche Wiesen Cook
With its gripping tale of a privileged ugly
duckling turned socially conscious swan with the help of strong
female friends--many of whom were lesbians and one of whom was
probably her lover--the first volume of Blanche Wiesen Cook's
biography of Eleanor Roosevelt won awards and made headlines. That
book followed its subject from her birth in 1884 through her
husband Franklin's election to the presidency in 1933. Volume 2,
which chronicles Roosevelt's first six years as America's most
controversial first lady (Hillary Clinton doesn't even come
close), maps her contributions to the New Deal, which Cook
convincingly argues was primarily the fulfillment of a political
agenda promoted by female reformers as early as 1912. Eleanor's
turbulent relationship with journalist Lorena Hickok gets more
space here than it probably deserves, and the story isn't as
inherently exciting as the first volume's drama of a woman's
coming of age. Nonetheless, Cook's subtle analyses of everything
from Roosevelt's exceedingly complex marriage to her role as
warm-up act for the New Deal's most radical programs are bracingly
intelligent, her evocation of a remarkable personality rivetingly
vivid. Eleanor emerges as neither the liberals' saint nor the
conservatives' Satan, but an entirely human bundle of
contradictions: warm-hearted, yet ice-cold when hurt; happiest in
the public arena, yet needing the comfort of private
relationships. --Wendy Smith
Also Available on Audio Cassette
|
|
From pbs
Excerpt:
Her father was the love of her life. Her father
always made her feel wanted, made her feel loved, where her mother
made her feel, you know, unloved, judged harshly, never up to par.
And she was her father's favorite, and her mother's unfavorite. So
her father was the man that she went to for comfort in her
imaginings. And in her letters, she writes the most, you know,
fanciful letters: when we are together, and when we are reunited,
and you know, I will be your surrogate wife. Of course she doesn't
use that word, but I will be the mother to my brothers, and I will
be your primary love...
|
|
Blanche Wiesen Cook discusses her new book, the
second of three volumes about the late First Lady
From The Advocate
Excerpt:
Like Roosevelt before her, Cook is a politically
passionate woman who decries "the lack of social justice in
these mean-spirited times. Today it's OK to say bigoted things
about women and gays. We can see where we are by who it's OK to
mock and lynch."
Although Cook quips that she "spent most of
her vital youth with one dead general [Dwight D.
Eisenhower]," writing about Roosevelt has taken up the past
18 years and has brought together all her interests: "social
justice, women, lesbianism, and world affairs." Cook
completed work on Eisenhower and began work on Roosevelt after
publishing a critical review of Doris Faber's "looksist
book" about the relationship between "dynamic"
reporter Lorena Hickok and Roosevelt; the book dismissed the two
women as ugly...
|
|
by Alice Stevens for epinions.com
Excerpt:
This biography deals with Eleanor's emotional
and love life frankly and honestly. She had an enduring
relationship with Lorena Hickock, the famous AP reporter who gave
up her career to help Eleanor organize during the thirties.
Blanche Weisen Cook, the much-revered author of this biography had
access to the many letters the two women exchanged. The author
documents this rather out-in-the-open relationship through it's
hardships and happinesses. The love and commitment these women
shared is revealed as never before. The two enjoyed each other
both intellectually and physically and worked together to
influence the great social movements and governmental efforts of
the thirties. But, their almost constant separation put tremendous
strain on the relationship...
|
|
|
|
Names Index:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
S T
U V
W X
Y Z
| Authors
Index | Scholars
Index |
|
|
