BARBARA FOSTER

Desde Adán y Eva y la serpiente hasta Woody Allen, Mia Farrow y Soon-Yi Previn -pasando por el patriarca bíblico Abraham, su esposa Sara y su criada Agar; Henry y June Miller y Anaïs Nin; y el escrit

The definitive biography of a trailblazing actress who entertainedand shockedthe nation and the worldMarilyn Monroe might never have become the legend she did without Americas original tragic starlet: actress and poet Adah Isaacs Menken (183568). In a century remembered for Victorian restraint, Menkens modern flair for action, scandal, and unpopular causesespecially that of the Jewish peoplerevolutionized show business. On stage, she was the first actress to bare all. Off stage, she originated the front-page scandal and became the worlds most highly paid actresscelebrated on Broadway, as well as in San Francisco, London, and Paris. At thirty-three, she mysteriously died.A Dangerous Woman is the first book to tell Menkens fascinating story. Born in New Orleans to a kept woman of color and to a father whose identity is debated, Menken eventually moved to the Midwest, where she became an outspoken protege of the rabbi who founded Reform Judaism. In New York City, she became Walt Whitmans disciple. During the Civil War she was arrested as a Confederate agentand became Americas first pin-up superstar. Menken married and left five husbands. Ultimately, she paid dearly for success. A major biography of a remarkable woman, A Dangerous Woman is must reading for those interested in womens history, the roots of modern-day American Judaism, and African-American history.Praise for a previous book by Barbara and Michael Foster, Forbidden Journey: The Life of Alexandra David-Neel Hers was a great human life, very well written up in Forbidden Journey. . . . Surely this biography will provoke even more interest. New York Times Book Review

In the spirit of such classic female erotic adventurers as Anais Nin, Erica Jong and Toni Bentley, Barbara Foster shares the story of four women who meet to tell the lurid details of their worldly romantic encounters in Confessions of a Librarian: A Memoir of Loves. From Istanbul, Buenos Aries, Israel and back to New York, featuring young women to women of a certain age, with threesomes and everything in between, these inter-connected tales of love and lust are sure to keep you rapidly turning the pages.