Those Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Women

This week, I've been listening to an audio book called "Mad Women," written by Jane Maas. I have the book, but when I saw the audio at the library, I decided that I was finally in the mood to read it, and that I would be more likely to do so in this format.

As it turns out, the book is entertaining and enlightening.

I'm nearing the end, but it has been a fun romp through the world of advertising in its prime. Lots of creative people behaving badly, but also so much groundbreaking advertising that was the result.

I enjoyed the fact that, although the book clearly points up the differences in pay and in the way men and women were treated, it still portrays the people involved as individuals, not in an "us versus them" scenario. It doesn't engage in revisionist history or moralizing, it simply presents the way it was.

Groundbreakers, by their very nature, have to put up with a lot of crap, but they also have the kind of experiences that those who come after never enjoy. The challenges and the exhileration that come with being the first.

Today, I'd like to raise my glass (or, in this case, my mug of coffee) to the Mad Women who paved the way for the rest of us.

Sláinte!