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Donna Woolfolk Cross
Hi, Pope Joan fans and readers!Thank you all so much for your heartwarming support of Pope Joan--an inspirational story of female empowerment through learning. I'd like to encourage everyone to purchase the 2009 Three Rivers Press (Broadway) edition of Pope Joan, instead of previous editions.... show more

Hi, Pope Joan fans and readers!Thank you all so much for your heartwarming support of Pope Joan--an inspirational story of female empowerment through learning. I'd like to encourage everyone to purchase the 2009 Three Rivers Press (Broadway) edition of Pope Joan, instead of previous editions. Yes, you might save a few dollars by purchasing an earlier edition, but you will miss a lot. Here's why:1. This is not just a reprint of the novel; it's a whole new edition. I was able to make changes and additions to the text (every writer's dream--to make the book better AFTER publication!) AND I explain these changes and additions in the Author's Note at the end. 2. The Three Rivers Press (Broadway) edition has larger print. Previous editions have teeny-weeny print that's hard on the eyes. Many readers complained about this, so I made sure the print was enlarged for this new edition.3. The Three Rivers/Broadway edition includes new information about Joan's historical existence that emerged after my novel was first published. You might be surprised! 4. The Three Rivers Press/Broadway edition has a list of "Best of the Best" Reading Group questions, garnered from my many years chatting by speakerphone with reading groups all over the U.S. and Canada. Guaranteed, through the test of time, to spark interesting and lively conversation! Biography: I graduated Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in English.After graduation, I went to live in London, England. Worked as editorial assistant for a small publishing house on Fleet Street, W.H. Allen and Company, where one of my duties was to read--and usually reject--submitted manuscripts (most memorable--a verse poem in ten volumes on the life of Admiral Lord Nelson--written by a Texan!!!)Upon my return to the U.S., I worked at Young and Rubicam, the Madison Avenue advertising company, where I first learned how a clever wordsmith can twist words in order to deceive and mislead (this became the topic of my first book "Word Abuse: How the Words We Use Use Us). I spent a year helping write Aurora toilet paper commercials until the whole endeavor began to strike me as a very silly way to spend a life. So I went to graduate school at UCLA, where I got a master's degree in Literature and Writing.Information on Pope JoanThe movie version of my novel Pope Joan, starring Johanna Wokalek, John Goodman, David Wenham, and Iain Glen, had its world premiere in 2009. It premieres in the U.S. as a two-part television mini-series on REELZ channel in December 2011. Pope Joan was a selection of the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs. It is an international bestseller, translated into 36 different languages. In Germany, Pope Joan was the #1 bestseller for over three years. It is still on the list of longterm German bestsellers. There has even been a special bottling of wine in its honor: "Die Paepstin" ("She-Pope") wine, whose label features the book cover for Pope Joan! The musical "Die Paepstin", based on my novel, premiered in Germany on June 3rd and is currently playing to sold-out houses.Reviews and other information about the novel can be found at the book website (again, google Pope Joan and you'll find it). Previous Books and Media Credits1977 Speaking of Words, Holt Rinehart (with James MacKillop)1979 Word Abuse: How the Words We Use Use Us, G.P. Putnam1981 Daddy's Little Girl: The Relationship Between Fathers and Daughters, (with my father, William Woolfolk), Prentice-Hall1983 Mediaspeak: How Television Makes Up Your Mind, G.P. PutnamBibliographyNon-fiction Word Abuse: How the Words We Use Use Us (1979) ISBN 978-0-698-10906-3 Daddy's Little Girl: The Unspoken Bargain Between Fathers and Their Daughters (1983) (with William Woolfolk) ISBN 978-0-13-196279-8 Mediaspeak: How Television Makes Up Your Mind (1984) ISBN 978-0-451-62802-2 Speaking of Words: A Language Reader (1986) (with James MacKillop) ISBN 978-0-03-003953-9Novels Pope Joan (1996) ISBN 978-0-307-45236-8
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Community Reviews
JulieM
JulieM rated it 12 years ago
This is historic fiction at its best. The story of a intelligent young girl who hid her gender so that she could study in the monasteries. She rose in the Catholic hierarchy all the way to the top to become Pope - I guess she really leaned in to her career! People in Rome still talk about whether...
K.
K. rated it 13 years ago
I have wanted to read this book for so long and now I'm done! What do I say about this, the idea that a woman could rise above her "station" in the 9th century and become one of the most revered and powerful figures in her society?I love it! The author provides some compelling evidence to toward the...
I, the booklover
I, the booklover rated it 13 years ago
Mediano e tal... (http://labirinto-livros.blogspot.com/2012/02/papisa-joana.html)A Papisa Joana é uma obra que até ao ano passado, nunca tinha ouvido falar. Mesmo quando conheci esta obra, nunca fiquei completamente interessada. Não porque a cultura e a herança histórica da nossa civilização não me ...
Chrissie's Books
Chrissie's Books rated it 14 years ago
NO SPOILERS!!!In conclusion, having completed this novel, having struggled through to the end, I can say I did not like it. I didn't like it from the start to the end. When I voice this opinion, I am obviously in the minority. I do appreciate that the author concluded with an informative author's n...
Second Bookses
Second Bookses rated it 14 years ago
While I am a lapsed Catholic, my parents are still very much involved in the Church themselves. My father, however, is a great lover of Catholic history, myth, and controversies, and loaned me Pope Joan: A Novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross in a swap for The DaVinci Code.::: The Legend Becomes Fiction ::...
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