Enter Helen
by Brooke Hauser
Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Helen Gurley Brown's arrival at Cosmopolitan magazine in 1965, this female Mad Men-like story chronicles the legendary editor's rise to power as both a cultural icon and trailblazer who redefined what it means to be an American woman.In the mid-Sixties, Helen Gurley Brown, author of the groundbreaking Sex and the Single Girl, took over the ailing Cosmopolitan magazine and revamped it into one of the most successful brands in the world. At a time when magazines taught housewives how to make the perfect casserole, Helen reimagined Cosmo and womanhood itself, championing the independent, ambitious, man-loving single woman. Though she was married, to Hollywood producer David Brown, no one embodied the idea of the Cosmo Girl more than the Ozarks-born Helen, who willed, worked, and—yes—occasionally slept her way to the top, eventually becoming one of the most influential media players in the...