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Home > Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride
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Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride
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By Peter Zheutlin
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 (23 Reviews)
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Our Price: $22.95 Eligible for FREE shipping. Details
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Availability:
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Usually ships in 24 hours
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Publisher:
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Citadel
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Date:
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November 1, 2007 |
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Binding:
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Hardcover
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Pages:
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224
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Until 1894 there were no female sport stars, no product endorsement deals, and no young mothers with the chutzpah to circle the globe on a bicycle. Annie Kopchovsky changed all of that. Annie was a Jewish immigrant and working mother of three living in a Boston tenement with her husband, a peddler. This was as close to the American dream as she was likely to get--until she became part of what one newspaper called "one of the most novel wagers ever made": a high-stakes bet between two wealthy merchants that a woman could not ride around the world on a bicycle, as Thomas Stevens had a few years before. Annie rose to the challenge, pledging to finish her fifteen-month trip with a staggering $5,000 earned by selling advertising space on her bike and her clothing, making personal appearances in stores and at bicycle races, and lecturing about her adventures along the way. When the Londonderry Lithia Springs Water Company of New Hampshire offered to become the first of her many sponsors, Annie Kopchovsky became Annie Londonderry, and a legend was born. So began one of the greatest escapades--and publicity stunts--of the Victorian Age. In this marvelously written book, author Peter Zheutlin vividly recounts the story of the audacious woman who turned every Victorian notion of female propriety on its ear. When Annie left Boston in June 1894, she was a brash young lady with a 42-pound bicycle, a revolver, a change of underwear, and a dream of freedom. The epic journey that followed--from a frigid ride through France to an encounter with outlaw John Wesley Hardin in El Paso--took the connection between athletics and commercialism to dizzying new heights and turned Annie into a symbol of sexual equality. A beguiling true story of a bold spirit who reinvented herself against all odds, Around the World on Two Wheels blends social history and high adventure into an unforgettable portrait of courage, imagination and tenacity.
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Customers' Reviews:
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Armchair Adventuring at its Best, June 14, 2009
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As a member of the reality tv generation, I was well-primed for the premise of this story: One woman, one bike, one remarkable journey around the world. But in 1894, how was this possible?
...As I started to learn the details of Annie's life---a young Jewish immigrant, married with three children, no experience with bikes or bloomers, and in 1894!!---I quickly realized that this read would be a very different type of armchair adventure than the ones that we're used to on Survivor, The Amazing Race, and the like...This was the real deal!
Annie's journey around the world seems to have set the stage for other wacky stunts. And the fact that she did it with no modern amenities--no cell phone, padded bike shorts, power bars, or google maps--this is what I find to be so amazing and inspiring.
It's clear that there was a lack of primary sources for Mr. Zheutlin to draw upon, and I commend him for his masterful detective work. He brings Annie's remarkable journey to life with hundreds of newspaper articles--domestic and international. These articles chronicle her `round the world adventures--real and imagined--and introduce many colorful characters she encounters along the way.
I went into the book expecting a quirky adventure story, but I came out with much more: a lesson in turn of the century social, cultural, and technological trends. So Mr. Zheutlin, I thank you for the tireless and meticulous research that went into the writing of Around the World on Two Wheels. But if I could make just one request: perhaps you could scour the globe one more time to unearth Annie's lost diary....what a great sequel that would make!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
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Wow!, June 1, 2009
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A great read. The extraordinary true story of a life lived outside the boundaries of social convention; an entertaining tale of one woman's singular determination and adventure. Zheutlin's well-crafted narrative of Annie Londonderry's cycling feat is impressively documented in primary source material, while successfully evoking the historical period when the world's imagination was captured by the bicycle. A descendent of Londonderry, Zheutlin also describes his own fascinating journey of unearthing this story, previously little known within his own family much less to the general public. I highly recommend this book!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
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Ride, Annie, Ride, May 29, 2009
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Our book club enjoyed getting to know Annie and at the same time learning about the history of bicycling and the freedom it gave women. We all agreed we would recommend the book.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
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Around the World and through the Generations - Annie Londonderry, May 28, 2009
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Annie Kopchovsky/Londonderry seems to be exactly the kind of person many of us would like to find in our family tree. Not close, maybe, like Mom, or maybe even Grandma, but at a suitable distance. Luckily for Peter Zheutlin, that's exactly what he got. This is a very entertaining book about a woman who must have been a real charmer, with all the excitement and annoyance usually associated with that personality type. Bicycle around the world? Wow. Leave your little kids to do it? Wow. It evokes a time when people lived farther apart, saw each other less often, and probably valued each other more because of it. And probably weren't quite as suspicious as we are today, either. It's interesting to think how this caper would have worked, or not worked, in the present. Zheutlin's research into his relationship with Annie makes the subject more intriguing. Overall, an excellent read.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
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Cycling, History and more, May 27, 2009
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Amazing story on several levels which is what makes this a great read. If you are a cyclist, you can't help but be amazed (given the era and conditions) at what this woman actually did.....even if half of it is made up. History buffs will love the period feel. I've always loved reading about that era where explorers and adventurers tried to one-up eachother. Finally Annie and women like her played a key role in the transformation of perceptions about women, their rights and their abilities. Plus, oh my God....she was a character. I would have loved to have a few beers with this woman.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful
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