Enter Helen - by Brooke Hauser (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This female Mad Men-like story chronicles the legendary Cosmopolitan magazine editor's rise to power as both a cultural icon and trailblazer who redefined what it means to be an American woman.

"Engaging.... Nimble-footed.... Amusing....Throughout, Hauser weaves in passages connecting Brown to her contemporaries and the cultural landscape of the 1960s...[to] situate her life in the context of its times." -- New York Times Book Review

In the mid-Sixties, Helen Gurley Brown, author of the groundbreaking Sex and the Single Girl, took over the ailing Cosmopolitan magazine and revamped it into one of the most successful brands in the world. At a time when magazines taught housewives how to make the perfect casserole, Helen reimagined Cosmo and womanhood itself, championing the independent, ambitious single woman. Though she was married, to Hollywood producer David Brown, no one embodied the idea of the Cosmo Girl more than the Ozarks-born Helen, who willed, worked, and--maybe--occasionally slept her way to the top, eventually becoming one of the most influential media players in the world.

Drawing on new interviews with Helen's friends and former colleagues as well as her personal letters, Enter Helen brings New York City vibrantly to life during the Sexual Revolution and the Women's Movement and features a cast of characters including Hugh Hefner, Nora Ephron, and Gloria Steinem. It is the cinematic story of an icon who bucked convention, defined her own destiny, and became a controversial model for modern feminism, laying the groundwork for television shows like Sex and the City and Girls.

"Bad feminist" or not, Helen Gurley Brown got people talking--about sex, work, reproductive choices, and having it all--forever changing the conversation.

From the Back Cover

In 1965, Helen Gurley Brown, author of the groundbreaking bestseller Sex and the Single Girl, took over an ailing Cosmopolitan and soon revamped it into one of the most bankable--and revolutionary--brands on the planet. At a time when women's magazines taught housewives how to make the perfect casserole, Helen spoke directly to the single girl next door, cheekily advising her on how to pursue men, money, power, pleasure, and, most of all, personal happiness.

In this retro romp that will appeal to fans of Mad Men, journalist Brooke Hauser reveals how a self-proclaimed "mouseburger" from the Ozarks became one of the most influential women of her time. Though she was married (to renowned movie producer David Brown), no one embodied the idea of the Cosmo Girl more than Helen, who willed, worked, and flirted her way to the top.

Bringing New York City vibrantly to life during the sexual revolution and the women's movement, and featuring a rich cast of characters, including Hugh Hefner and Gloria Steinem, Enter Helen is the riveting story of a polarizing pioneer who bucked convention to define her own destiny, baiting a generation that both revered and rejected her.

Review Quotes

"Enter Helen is a Wizard of Oz story about a feisty girl from the Ozarks, the original Sex and the City gal Helen Gurley Brown. Brooke Hauser enters her life like slipping into a pair of Helen's infamous fishnets, weaving a compelling drama about a determined woman and Cosmopolitan editor, and revealing how powerful (and threatening) a female in command of her pocketbook, sexuality, and career can really be." - Lily Koppel, New York Times bestselling author of The Astronaut Wives Club and The Red Leather Diary
"Reading Enter Helen was like being at a party, and I'm sorry it had to end. With this sexy, riveting book, Brooke Hauser takes us on a joy ride through the 1960s and '70s of Helen Gurley Brown's life. It feels light and breezy, but--like Brown herself--Hauser's story is engaging and important." - Linda Wells, Founding Editor-in-Chief of Allure
"Engaging.... Nimble-footed.... Amusing....Throughout, Hauser weaves in passages connecting Brown to her contemporaries and the cultural landscape of the 1960s...[to] situate her life in the context of its times." - New York Times Book Review
"An engaging, juicy, and edifying read." - New York magazine
"Journalist Brooke Hauser's breezy and entertaining new biography...chronicles Brown's remarkable story, which is also a social history of two decades--the sixties and the seventies--whose cultural impact remains significant." - Acculturated.com
"Hauser deftly pulls out fascinating details.... Some truly juicy moments.... Hauser dives into her youth and her early career in advertising far more than these years have been explored previously, setting the stage much more firmly for understanding how Brown accomplished all that she did." - Jezebel
"Encapsulates the colorful life of a woman who rocked minis well into her eighties." - Los Angeles Times
"It is to be hoped that Brooke Hauser's excellent biography and a film in the works will give Sex and the Single Girl another lease on life." - New York Journal of Books
"A must-read piece of proto-feminist history." - Lenny Letter
"Excellent." - The Week
"Hauser dives deep into the life of our former HBIC and uncovers what drove her to revolutionize the way we live and date today. HGB, we TY." - Cosmopolitan
"Brown deserves the biography that Brooke Hauser has written, Enter Helen. It is entertaining, thoughtfully researched and -- the ultimate encomium where HGB was concerned -- fun." - Washington Post
"Legendary, inimitable Cosmopolitan editor and Sex and the Single Girl author Helen Gurley Brown comes alive in Hauser's hands." - Entertainment Weekly, "Must List"
"As Brooke Hauser's lively biography...reveals, [Helen Gurley Brown] was as comfortable championing single 'career girls' as she was giving them tips on how to catch a man--and her own contradictory, have-it-all life proved to be as compelling as the era she helped define." - OK Magazine
"A riveting...complex biography.... Such a great read. Enter Helen is neither hagiographic nor damning." - Washington Independent Review of Books