Aug. 7th, 2005


Anita Loos is very different from her famously diamond-friendly creation, as immortalized by (who else) Marilyn Monroe:  'I have always considered grown-ups to be figures of fun... and have never been deceived by their hypocrisies. ... A friend,... used to say that my slant on life was that of a child of ten, chortling with excitement over a disaster.'  ''If you were to write such a book today, what would be Your theme?" And without hesitation, I was forced to answer, "Gentlemen Prefer Gentlemen."'

Names dropped in the introduction:
  • H. L. Mencken now warned Anita, 'Little girl, you're making fun of sex and that's never been done before in the U.S.A. I suggest you sent it to Harper's Bazaar, where it'll be lost among the ads and won't offend anybody.
  • James Joyce, who had begun to lose his eyesight, saved his reading for Lorelei Lee.
  • Lin Yutang {that scamp} - assured me that Lorelei's prose went quite normally into the vernacular of the Sing Song girls.
Without further ado, here's Lorelei Lee:
  • I mean I seem to be thinking practically all of the time. I mean it is my favorite recreation and sometimes I sit for hours and do not seem to do anything else but think.
  • So now I really almost have to smile because that I have just noticed that I have written clear across two pages onto March 18th, so this will do for today and tomorrow. And it just shows how tempermental I am when I get started.
  • But I sometimes almost have to smile at my own imagination, because of course I have not got any brother and I have not even thought of the mumps for years. I mean it is no wonder that I can write.
  • I always seem to want to improve my mind and not waste any time.
  • I always think a lot of talk is depressing and worries your brains with things you never even think of when you are busy.

Profile

fiefoe

March 2026

S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4567
8 9 1011121314
15 16 1718192021
22 23 2425262728
293031    

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Mar. 17th, 2026 09:37 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios