All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
Description
The image we have of Amelia Earhart today—a tousle-haired, androgynous flier clad in shirt, silk scarf, leather jacket, and goggles—is only one of her many personas, most of which have been lost to us through the years. Through years of research and interviews with many of the surviving people who knew Amelia, Susan Butler has recreated a remarkably vivid and multifaceted portrait of this enigmatic figure. Listeners will experience Amelia in all her permutations: not just as a pilot, but also as an educator, a social worker, a lecturer, a businesswoman, and a tireless promoter of women's rights. We experience a remarkably energetic and enterprising woman who battled incredible odds to achieve her fame, succeeded beyond her wildest dreams, and yet never lost sight of her beginnings, ensuring that her success would secure a path for women after her.
Susan Butler tracked down sources overlooked by previous biographers of pioneering flyer Amelia Earhart: new interviews with acquaintances, the diary of her cousin, an unpublished biography of Earhart by a journalist friend. The resulting authenticity strengthens Butler's book; its weaknesses include the author's fondness for clichÄs and her reluctance to explore any of Earhart's faults. Anna Fields reads the text clearly and serviceably, though her pronunciation sometimes differs on words repeated in close con-texts ("autogyro," "St. Louis"). The occasional Paul Harvey-like catch in her voice brings out the sentimental side of a text that could perhaps have benefited from a more understated reading. In spite of these reservations, listeners familiar with other Earhart biographies will want to hear Butler's book for its informative account, even if it is a bit unbalanced. G.H. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
