The Aviator and the Showman

“The Aviator and the Showman is a lavish, layered narrative, a primer on early aviation and the transition of publishing from genteel carriage trade to an industry increasingly reliant on blockbusters…[the book] reveals the magnitude of our celebrity worship, the wonder of what we don’t understand. Shapiro captures the thrill of a leap into the unknown, recalling the works of Jon Krakauer and Sebastian Junger.” —Hamilton Cain, LA Times “[A]n eye-opening look into the lives of a Jazz Age power couple and their dangerous flirtation with fame. She exposes all sides of their interlocking personalities, virtues and failings. This is an exciting, well-written account that offers new insight into a historical figure many people think they know, but really don’t.” —The Washington Post “Offers an account of the famous pilot's marriage to George Putnam . . . both a romantic and mutually beneficial professional relationship in the six years leading up to her death.” —People “Shapiro reveals in painstaking detail that Earhart’s storied career did indeed involve many reckless and publicity-seeking adventures, largely thanks to the near-depraved ambitions of her husband and Pygmalion-like manager, the publisher George P. Putnam.” —The New York Times Book Review “This biography of Amelia Earhart was complex, scintillating and delicious. Loved it!” —Raquel Laneri “As Laurie Gwen Shapiro, a journalist and filmmaker, shows . . . this free spirit owed much of her success to the complicated ministrations of a man.” —Wall Street Journal “As Laurie Gwen Shapiro reveals in a new biography, there’s a lot about [Earhart] that we don’t know . . . Shapiro’s 450-page tome paints a more complicated portrait of the pilot — specifically through the lens of her controversial relationship with her manager, publisher and (eventual) husband, George Putnam.” —New York Post “The author pierces Earhart’s mythic image by illuminating not only her bravery but also her recklessness; Earhart’s less well-known husband is portrayed as a publicity-obsessed con man.” —Christian Science Monitor “An exciting new book . . . that has already created a buzz.” —Chicago Tribune “The book isn’t a dry biography or a rote retelling of history. It’s a narrative in full, one alive with character and tension. A story with stakes... That is what Shapiro has so masterfully done in this book.” —Molly Cotner, Pueblo Star Journal “Shapiro’s meticulous research and gripping storytelling make this not just a biography, but a revelation—an entirely new understanding of how Earhart constructed her own myth and why, nearly a century later, her name still resonates as powerfully as ever.” —The Atchison Globe “Laurie Gwen Shapiro has dug deep into the archives, and emerged with an exhilarating tale of the adventurous life of Amelia Earhart and the remarkable relationship that helped to forge her legend. Yet Shapiro goes even further--stripping away the myths and revealing something far more profound and intricate and true. The Aviator and the Showman is one terrific book.” —David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon “This profoundly researched, gripping journey is a must read. Filled with stunning details of the courageous life of feminist adventurer, politically radical, and generous social worker Amelia Earhart, as well as her self-serving promoter husband, and their networks of friends and allies, The Aviator and the Showman is captivating and heartening.” —Blanche Wiesen Cook, New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1-3 “I thought I understood the story of Amelia Earhart. I could not have been more wrong. As Shapiro proves in this irresistible book, the full tale is so much more thrilling, inspiring, and outrageous than even the most ardent fan might imagine. Read it. It is a wild ride!” —Candice Millard, New York Times bestselling author of River of the Gods “Laurie Gwen Shapiro doesn’t give us a love story; she gives us something better—a compelling inside look at a complicated marriage that fundamentally changed the 20th century. In these pages, Amelia Earhart lives again.” —Keith O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author of Fly Girls and Charlie Hustle We need myths… and there comes a time when we need to unpack them. This revelatory book—in effect a double biography, vivid, cinematic, exuberantly fond of its subjects yet intent on excavating truth from layers of mythmaking—reveals the machinations behind Putnam’s push to make Earhart an aviation star, and her willingness to assume that role. —Russell Shorto, author of Taking Manhattan and The Island at the Center of the World “[Shapiro’s] appealingly flawed Earhart is high-minded and courageous but also overconfident and careless; Putnam, meanwhile, is a narcissistic and manipulative con man who once staged his own kidnapping for publicity. This nuanced reprisal of Earhart’s life . . . makes her saga all the more captivating.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The Aviator and the Showman tells a captivating tale shaped by the forces of ambition and love.” —Bookpage (starred review) “In this gossipy dual biography of aviator Amelia Earhart and her husband, publisher George Putnam, Shapiro sets out to right what she purports has been a biographical history of errors “about every single aspect” of Earhart’s life and death. Drawing on archived records, diaries, and interviews with the couple and those who knew them, Shapiro crafts a narrative that is often surprisingly intimate about their thoughts and feelings.” —Booklist “Journalist Shapiro, unsatisfied with “whitewashed” biographies of Amelia Earhart, offers an evenhanded portrait of the iconic aviator, focusing on her relationship with publishing tycoon George P. Putnam…Capturing the tension and peril of early flying, Shapiro conveys, as well, Earhart’s unflagging ambition and courage. [The Aviator and the Showman is] a sympathetic, well-researched biography.” –Kirkus “Among the many biographies of Earhart, Shapiro’s stands out with its melding of the aviator’s story with that of her less famous husband. Fans of aviation history will find this an engaging read.” —Library Journal