Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Intimate Diary of a Professional Lady is a comic novel by American author Anita Loos, first published in 1925. Narrated in the form of a diary (complete with spelling errors) by a blonde flapper called Lorelei Lee, the book tells her story of working in Hollywood under the direction of a Chicago businessman, Gus Eisman, and her exploits in New York and Europe with other men and the gifts they are willing to buy her in return for her affections. Loos wrote the novel after being inspired by a train journey, during which she struggled with bags with no help forthcoming from the men in the carriage - but then watched as the same men clamoured to assist a blonde woman who dropped the book she was reading. Upon it's publication, the book was an instant success, and has been adapted into both a musical and two films - a silent movie in 1928, and the 1953 version starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe.