There she was The secret history of Miss America

The author, a Washington Post reporter, has undertaken to write the ultimate history of one of nation's iconic events: the Miss America Pageant. As a young woman, she attended one of the Atlantic City pageants with a group of women friends as a kitschy lark, and grew interested in the entire process. For two years she interviewed contestants, past winners, and also-rans from the national pageant and many of the smaller local contests that one must win in order to qualify for the big event. There are scandals (remember Vanessa Williams?), low points, and triumphs all covered with both a reporter's thoroughness and a hint of the enthusiasm of a secret fan. The pageant itself has seen financial hard times, and now has only a fraction of the television ratings that it once had. Coverage starts with the first pageant in 1921 and goes to the 2019 crowning, with the pandemic stopping last year's event. The narrative hops around in time in a somewhat disorienting way, but it still conveys the ways American culture has changed for women, and the ways it is still the same. This should be a big hit in public libraries.