Mocking Mary: The Humorists Vs. Miss MacLane

That "errant daughter of literature" - considered "the first of the Flappers" as well as "the first blogger" - Mary MacLane (1881-1929) has undergone a remarkable rediscovery in recent years. Buried, however, and largely forgotten is the astonishing press outpour that never ceased through her 20s. There was unending hate, perpetual admiration - and constant humor. The nation's biggest papers ran multiple jests at her expense every day - pointed one-liners, limericks, turgid poetry, deft parodies. By the time she was 22, three book-length parodies were on sale and inspiring laughter across the country.

This first-of-its-kind collection returns to print the books - The Devil's Letters to Mary MacLane, The Story of Lizzie McGuire, The Story of Willie Complain - and a generous helping of every genre of humor she inspired. Still able to bring smiles or groans, these pieces uniquely reveal a society desperately pushing back at the young radical who questioned everything and obeyed nothing but her dark Muse - and against the coming revolution in style and manners she represented.

With an illuminating introduction and annotations by acclaimed MacLane scholar Michael R. Brown, Mocking Mary opens a new direction in understanding a potent revolutionary author and the times she lived in and provoked so deeply.