This was a fantastic and funny read. I love this era. Bandbox is the story of a magazine that was on the rise after being for the somewhat "lavender" crowd for a bit. It is the story of the 20's, the Jazz Age, flappers and the mob, romance and fun times. Parties and clothes were high on the list for this crowd. Stepping into this world for just a few pages was glorious. I loved the novel and the place's it took me, i liked the feel i was left with when the story was over. I'm glad i got to visit the 20's thru this novel.
When I first started reading this, I was somewhat perplexed and was patiently waiting for something to happen. The novel takes place in 1928 at the height of prohibition and not long before the stock market fall and the beginning of the depression. The story revolves around the day-to-day operations of a popular magazine of the time called Bandbox which is defined at the beginning of the book as "a neat box of pasteboard or thin wood, usually cylindrical, for holding light articles of attire, orig. for the bands [clerical collars] of the 17th century. Also, attrib., flimsy; unsubstantial; as a bandbox reputation." Well this book seemed to match its definition when I first started reading...it seemed both flimsy and unsubstantial and contained way too many characters to try to keep track of. But as it progressed, I became engrossed in the story of the magazine's struggle to stay afloat and the circumstances involving the mob, the NYC vice squad, a kidnapped subscriber, and a starlet with a very questionable past. The characters are well portrayed, especially the writers and editors of the magazine including one who is obsessed with the fair treatment of animals used in some of the magazine stories as props for its photography. Overall, I would recommend this and I found it to ultimately be quite enjoyable and full of humor.
Very funny and refreshing.
I got off to a slow start with Bandbox and at first struggled to keep all the characters and their nicknames straight, but part way through something clicked and the plot lines got interesting. The last few chapters I read in one late night sitting, eager to find out how all the different story lines were going to get resolved in the remaining pages.
