Relates the stories of two women journalists who traveled around the world in an attempt to beat the record of the fictional hero of Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days"
The ultimate picaresque romp...a crackerjack tale of two indomitable and resourceful young women circumnavigating the globe when the going was tough, male and unpredictable. --John Maxtone-Graham, author of Titanic Survivor Gay nineties travelogues still make juicy reading. Marks flavors his with romance, youth, ambition, and plenty of historical detail. Brush up on industrialist Americana and follow two enchanting young women around the world in 72 days. (76 for Elizabeth Bisland, the winsome loser.) --Katherine Green, Small Press Dynamic Nellie Bly and colorful Elizabeth Bisland pioneered as role models for women today. Both abounded in self-esteem and had strong self-identity. Their dauntless actions in this exciting tale helped launch the Feminist movement. --Jane Douglas Young, Ms. Foundation for Education and Communication Nellie By went East, Elizabeth Bisland went West; their personalities were equally diverse. Marks brings this out out beautifully. While they were both seasoned writers, they were quite different: Bly was a spunky adventurer, Bisland a feminine romantic. --Margaret Choudhury, The Creative Woman. A very exciting day-by-day account of two women racing around the world, one of whom was not well-known. The suspense is high and makes for riveting reading. --Hiley Ward, Editor & Publisher
The stories of Bly and Bisland, two independent pioneering women on their epoch-making journeys, are cleverly intercut by Marks. And two more disparate characters than Bly and Bisland are difficult to imagine...a tale of high drama well worth reading. --Book Page, The Toledo Blade High Victorian travel at its best...and worst. Two women of varying temperaments adrift on seas of masculine superiority. The triumph of feminine fortitude is not entirely unexpected. Sometimes erudite, always entertaining, this is one race in which the reader is the real winner. --John P. Eaton, author of Titanic: Journey Through Time As a publicity stunt in l889, rival publishers sent two female journalists (spunky Nellie Bly and charming Elizabeth Bisland) on an around-the-world race. This entertaining account of that spirited competition should garner teen interest. --Booklist An entertaining story..A recommended purchase for travel and women studies collections. --Library Journal Jason Marks offers a fascinating and entertaining account of two American women journalists who raced each other around the world trying to beat the record set by fictional character Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. --The Editors, American History magazine A good yarn....Certainly a great adventure that the two women took on their own -- although it's clear they were helped out by a great number of people along the way and it was at the instigation of two men in the first place. It makes me want to read Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. --Catherine O'Haire, formerly an editor with Reader's Digest History can be a lot of fun and Jason Marks has written a fascinating story about the race between Pulitzer's Nellie Bly and Cosmopolitan's Elizabeth Bisland, two journalists who defied the men-only-club of their time. The time is the 1880's and you didn't hop a jet. You did it the hard way. --Alan Caruba, Bookviews on the Internet
