Rachel's Reviews > Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond

Mad Women by Jane Maas

by
1416648
's review
Oct 02, 12

bookshelves: 2012, memoir, non-fiction
Read in October, 2012

This book caught my eye because 1)my husband and I are huge Mad Men fans and 2)my husband is a creative partner at an advertising agency and I like learning more about the industry in which he works. I constantly pause Mad Men while we're watching and ask him incredulously, "Did stuff like that really happen back then??" Ninety-nine percent of the time, his answer is yes. I was really interested to read a book from a woman's point of view of the era and industry.

Jane Maas has some great stories. She writes in a very conversational style, almost stream of consciousness at times. One memory will remind her of another memory. At times, this works well and at times it makes the transitions and flow awkward. She is not afraid to drop names which is awesome - I don't necessarily respect discretion in a memoir - I want specifics and dirt!

Jane was a high ranking advertising executive with a fairly progressive husband and a full-time live-in housekeeper/nanny to help her raise her two daughters. Therefore, her life was quite different from a secretary's life during this era. Naturally this book is focused on what life was like for her and the handful of female executives like her. There is a little information on what it was like for the girls in the typing pool but not much.

Jane mentions the TV show Mad Men a few times, usually to point out an inaccuracy, which I appreciated. This book was published after the fourth season so only examples from the first four seasons are used.

This was a very quick read as it's only a little over 200 pages long with fairly large font. Reading it was an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon and I liked learning more about the world of 1960s advertising.

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