The Bobbed Haired Bandit

With crisp prose and a lively selection of newspaper photographs, headlines, cartoons, and excerpts, authors Stephen Duncombe and Andrew Mattson tell a story of an outlaw couple and, through them, the story of an era.-Boston Globe"It brings alive the darker side of flapper-era Manhattan."-Entertainment Weekly"Celia Cooney was her real name, but in the early 1920s, after she and her husband committed a series of stickups in New York City, the world came to know her as the Bobbed Haired Bandit. Besides being a criminal, she was a godsend. Newspapers loved her, poets and song writers enshrined her in doggerel, pundits theorized about the effects of poverty on her ilk, the urban poor. There was even talk of sterilizing ''the unfit.'' InThe Bobbed Haired Bandit: A True Story of Crime and Celebrity in 1920s New York, Stephen Duncombe and Andrew Mattson point out the many uses to which Cooney''s example could be put: ''She was a feminist heroine and a wanton vamp. She was symptomatic of a permissive society that coddled its criminals and the unfortunate product of the slums and the factory, an argument for law and order, and a call for progressive social reform.''"-Washington Post"This rollicking true-crimer''s subject recalls the nearly concurrent and similarly trumpeted Roxie Hart case in Chicago, which inspired the musicalChicago. Since Duncombe and Mattson relentlessly reference their story without killing readability, this is a win-win package for true-crime. Roaring Twenties, and pop-culture fans alike."-Booklist"The Bobbed Haired Banditis that increasingly rare species of historical work, a wild ride that happens to be true, a thumping good read that is built on truly impeccable research, and a rich portrait of America at a moment of crucial change that is as entertaining as any movie. Stephen Duncombe and Andrew Mattson arrive on the scene as already accomplished masters of their profession; and this book will appeal to any and all readers who want follow a seemingly unbelievable tale with the confidence that they can trust their guides absolutely. ItÆs true crime, it''s top-notch American history, it''s flat-out fun-grab it."-Caleb Carr, author ofThe AlienistandThe Italian Secretary"This book is a fascinating look at a young woman who looked at her options and decided to play the P.R. game before the term had been invented. An historical account that reads like Doctorow,The Bobbed Haired Banditis non-fiction at its most accessible."-Crime Spree Magazine"In 1924, Celia Cooney, a newly married laundress in Brooklyn, found herself unexpectedly pregnant. The Cooneys'' $30-a-week income couldn''t support a baby. So Celia and her husband, Ed, began holding up neighborhood drugstores. In this riveting book, the authors, scholars in history and media studies reconstruct and analyze not only the crime spree but also the ensuing media frenzy. Savvy newspaper editors knew the story of a girl with a gun would sell; they christened Celia the Bobbed Hair Bandit and made her a star. According to the authors, she stood in for the era''s anxieties about changing gender roles, her bob a symbol of liberated women. Suddenly, any gal with a bob was seen as a potential threat-even Zelda Fitzgerald was reportedly pulled over by cops and questioned. Once Celia was finally arrested, the public learned about her grueling childhood and negligent mother. Editorialists, including progressive pundit Walter Lippmann, then held Celia up as an example of what happened to poor and abused children when society failed to intervene. Duncombe and Mattson''s fast-paced account of Cooney''s story is an absolute winner."-Publishers Weekly"A phenominally complete work of historical literature: gripping, suspenseful, fast-moving, kaleidoscopic, gimlet-eyed, analytic, penetrating, sympathetic, and oddly tender. Its scholarship is solid, its implications are profound, and it''s at least as good as a movie."-Luc Sante, author ofLow LifeandNew York Noir"NYU Press has put out a

Andrew Mattson teaches American Studies and Media Studies at the State University of New York at Old Westbury.