An Odd Book. How the First Modern Pop Culture Reporter Conquered New York 12+

📘 Odd McIntyre’s life is a fascinating story of how a shy high school dropout found fame and fortune writing about pop culture from New York during the Roaring Twenties. It’s also a story of camaraderie and friendship between some of the most popular writers, musicians, artists and entertainers of the first decades of the twentieth century. It’s a story of having the best of everything money can buy, while simultaneously suffering from an undiagnosed illness that resulted in severe physical and mental disabilities. But more than anything, Odd’s story is about the power of the written word to, as he put it, “entertain people a little each day.” Thanks to the thousands of articles and columns Odd wrote during his lifetime, we have a unique view of popular culture during one of the most exciting times of change and innovation in history. Odd wrote more, made more money, and had more readers than any other columnist in his era. When the world was hungry for newspapers and magazines, and radio and movies were in their infancy, he carefully managed his public persona to become a media superstar. His rise to stardom is even more remarkable when you learn he was fighting a disease that wasn’t yet understood. Trying to hide the symptoms of what was likely pernicious anemia, he struggled with an undiagnosed disorder that caused impaired concentration, great physical weakness, insomnia, severe depression, panic attacks, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Raised by his grandmother...