The Salamander (Classic Reprint)

Like to read about flappers, the fun free spirited times of the 20's known as the Jazz Age? Then you will likely enjoy, if not downright love 'The Salamander' by Owen Johnson, written just a few years prior to that heady period of time, so well captured in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, et. al. Johnson really captures the flavor and spirit of young women, flocking from small towns across the country to the shining big city, New York. They called themselves Salamanders and are the fore runners to the better known flapper's of the 1920's. Wild, fun and free .... they mostly felt they had just a few years (18 - mid twenties) to grab all life had to offer, before being forced to settle down in one way or another. Audacious, charming and beautiful .... living on a shoestring, except at night, where the skies the limit depending on the beau or admirers.Doré Baxter, known as Do-Do, is the main character and we follow her life as a Salamader (e.g. flapper) and all who come into her orbit. I found the book to be absorbing and refreshing. A look into the lives of these "new" women who were shacking off the shackles of what a woman "should be" in dress, lifestyle and theory.The author, Owen Johnson felt his depiction of the girls (his book was published in 1915 and made into a Hollywood movie shortly thereafter) should have garnered more attention when F. Scott Fitzgerald made it big in the '20s with his writing on flappers. In fact a young Zelda was entranced with the book and movie by Owens and it is known that she patterned herself after them (the Salamanders) and Scott inturn patterned his new age girls, the flappers, on Zelda. Another little Fitzgerald, Zelda, Owen's twist; Zelda's pet name for Scott was Do-Do.Highly recommend.

My copy was missing several pages and starts somewhere in the midst of Chapter 5.

Missing intro and first four chapters.