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1 of 1 copy available
Until 1894 there were no female sport stars, no product endorsement deals, and no young mothers with the chutzpah to circle the globe on a bicycle. Annie Londonderry changed all of that.
When Annie left Boston in June of that year, she was a brash young lady with a 42-pound bicycle, a revolver, a change of underwear, and a dream of freedom. She was also a feisty mother of three who had become the center of what one newspaper called "one of the most novel wagers ever made": a high-stakes bet between two wealthy merchants that a woman could not ride around the world on a bicycle. The epic journey that followed took the connection between athletics and commercialism to dizzying new heights, and turned Annie Londonderry into a symbol of women's equality.
A vastly entertaining blend of social history, high adventure, and maverick marketing, Around the World on Two Wheels is an unforgettable portrait of courage, imagination, and tenacity.
"Annie was a remarkable woman and well worth getting to know." —Booklist
"A wonderful telling of one of the most intriguing, offbeat, and until now, lost chapters in the history of cycling." —David Herlihy, author of Bicycle: The History
"A pleasant, affectionate portrait of a free spirit who pedaled her way out of Victorian constraints." —Kirkus Reviews
"[A] charming and informative book." —Cape Cod Times
"[An] incredible story. . .[a] fascinating book." —NextReads
"[A] stirring tale. . .not only a must read, but a must have." —Western Writers of America Roundup Magazine
"[A] remarkable saga." —The Winston-Salem (NC) Journal
"[R]ead[s]. . .like a novel." —The Columbia (SC) State
"[M]eticulously researched. . .illuminat[es] the feeling of a bygone era." —The Portsmouth (NH) Wire
Peter Zheutlin has been chasing the story of his great-grandaunt Annie Londonderry for more than four years. He is an avid cyclist and a freelance journalist whose work appears regularly in the Boston Globe and the Christian Science Monitor. He has also written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, AARP Magazine, Bicycling, the New England Quarterly, and other publications. He lives in Needham, Massachusetts.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 1, 2008 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780806531717
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780806531717
- File size: 1189 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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September 1, 2007
The lives of women in the 1890s were constrained by social mores, family obligations, and restrictive clothing. Annie Kopchovsky, immigrant, wife, and mother ofthree, seems to have had no qualms aboutdoing the opposite of what the times dictated. So liberated was Annie that shecooked up a scheme to circle the globe on a bicycleeven though she had barely been on a biketo earn fame and money. She abandoned her husband and children and made up a traveling identity, calling herselfAnnie Londonderry. Her journey beganin New York, where she worked for abicycle company, but in Chicago she negotiated a new contract with a different bicycle company and started over. She did succeed in circling the globe with a fair share of hype and flimflammery, but did she fulfill the terms of the contract? Well researched and written by a great-nephew of Annies, this reclaimed true story illuminates family life, journalism, advertising, and recreation of that transitional era. As for Annie, shewas a remarkable woman and well worth getting to know.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)
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