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April 02, 2007
“Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon” by Charles Slack
This biography of renowned miser Hetty Green is interesting because of its subject’s wealth and thrifty habits; but what I found even more interesting was how the author tried to highlight Hetty’s humanity and failed.
Hetty Green lived from 1834 to 1916 and was born into a Quaker family who happened to control the wealthiest whaling company in America. She inherited her family’s money, some of it through an aunt’s will, on which Hetty allegedly forged the signature. She went on to multiply that early fortune through good investments and extreme thrift, including bringing buckets of dry oatmeal to her bank, where she would add water and heat it on the radiator in order to avoid a restaurant bill.
Hetty is plain old cheap, and she tends to be pretty nasty about it. But author Charles Slack is determined to bring out her human qualities. He plays up the fact that when she was living in various tenements in Hoboken to avoid paying residency taxes, she gave savings banks with a dollar inside to some neighborhood children. Slack’s anecdotes meant to highlight her kindness are overwhelmed by the very nature of her character.
The author’s attempt to redeem Hetty Green’s legacy fail; there aren’t enough positive stories about this woman to stretch this book beyond its slim 226 pages. So while it’s not a very successful as a biography, it is a pretty good story about America’s cheapest and most forgotten tycoon.
ISBN: 006054256x
Sara, reference assistant
Posted by jnardine at April 2, 2007 08:30 AM