Though some pivotal moments in pop culture history are instantly recalled, many have been forgotten. Fortunately, Paula Uruburu resurrects a hundred-year-old tale of innocence, corruption, madness and murder in American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl, and the Crime of the Century. It's a particularly noteworthy story because it gave rise to a pop culture itch that we're still scratching today. American Eve chronicles a tipping point in American society -- the moment in which the general public became obsessed with youth, beauty, celebrity and sex.
Beauty and the Beastly Older Men
Nesbit was only 16 years old when her widely photographed and illustrated image set the standard for female beauty at the turn of the 19th century. (Picture Keira Knightley crossed with Christina Ricci.) In advertisements, postcards, and newspaper photo spreads, her heavy- lidded eyes and bow-shaped lips enticed a nation to fall in love with her. It seemed a storybook outcome for the small-town girl from Pennsylvania who had previously lived in poverty after her father's death plunged her flighty mother and sickly brother into financial ruin.
But like many of today's celebrities, her fame didn't bring happiness. And when a relationship with a benefactor three times her age -- internationally famous architect Stanford White, the toast of New York society -- took a twisted turn, she found herself trapped by circumstance. It was an impossible situation made worse by the attentions of an extremely wealthy suitor who seemed to offer salvation but hid his darker side until it was too late.
A Time of Excitement and Decadence
Even the most inattentive reader will quickly realize that Urubu, an associate professor of English at Hofstra University, is an Evelyn Nesbit expert and ardent fan; she gorgeously recreates the wonder and excitement of a New York City caught up in the growth, commerce, and decadence of the early 1900s through evocative descriptions and moody settings. Although the first twenty or so pages are rough going due to the florid prose Urubu channels from the past to mimic the cadences of the era, once Nesbit appears the book becomes as captivating as its subject.
The Fascination With Celebrity
"Why read about a one-hundred-year-old celebrity murder/scandal?" you may be thinking. As Winston Churchill once said, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Clearly, from looking at Paris, Nicole, Lindsay and Britney (whose photos grace the weekly magazines and whose escapades are the stuff of 24/7 internet gossip), we still haven't learned this particular lesson: Money, beauty, youth and fame are not the golden ticket to happiness. Instead, for many they are the grease that speeds an already rapid slide toward excess, indiscretion and ruin.
Parallels Between Past and Present
The biggest thrill of American Eve does not take place within its pages; rather, it begins after we close the book and draw the inevitable parallels between the past and the present. Without saying a word about contemporary society and pop culture, Uruburu reminds us that the celebrity stories that fill the pages of People, Us, the National Enquirer, and other tabloids have all been told before; that Lynn Spears, the mother of Jamie Lynn and Britney Spears, is in large part responsible for the unfortunate outcomes of her daughters' lives just like so many stage mothers before her; that early success based on looks more than talent is why every generation has its own version of Lindsay Lohan; and that even though we're not as pretty, as wealthy, as celebrated, or as famous as the celebrities we follow, few of us would want to trade places.
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl, and the Crime of the Century
by Paula Urubu
Paperback, 387pp. ISBN 978-1-59448-369-1
Riverhead Books / April 2009
