Bachelor Girl: A Book Blurb

BACHELOR GIRL

100 Years of Breaking the Rules -- a Social History of Living Single

by Betsy Israel

The Blurb 

Journalist Betsy Israel paints remarkably vivid portraits of single women -- and how they have been perceived -- throughout the decades using primary sources, including private journals, newspapers, and other materials from popular media. From the nineteenth-century spinsters of New England to the Bowery girls of New York City, to the career girls of the 1950s and 1960s, single women have fought to find, and feel comfortable in, that room of their own. One need only look at Bridget Jones and the Sex and the City gang so see that single women still maintain an uneasy relationship with the rest of the society -- and yet radiate glamour and mystery.

Bachelor Girl shines a light on the stereotypes that have stigmatized single women and celebrates their resourceful sense of spirit, enterprise, and unlimited success in a world where it is no longer unusual or unlikely to be unwed.


The First Line 

We all grow up with images of single life.

Why I Decided to Take on the Read


The booksale was one of my sanctuaries during my single days late last year. I saw this and I was immediately attracted, empowered and relieved. I was determined to remain single for life until a hot man walks in front of me -- a hot man who can write me witty love letters, cook, pull out surprises, give me blue roses, engage in a stimulating conversation, have fun with me, ride with my crazy antics and one who is taller than me even though I'm wearing four-inch pumps. Impossible, I know. That's why I turn to books for company. I buy books that tell about how I feel for that certain moment. I may read them, I may not.

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