Mad Women : The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the '60s and Beyond

Fans of the show Mad Men are dying to know how accurate it is. Was there really that much sex at the office? Were there really three-martini lunches? Were women really second-class citizens? Jane Maas says the answer to all three questions is unequivocally "yes." Her book Mad Women, based on her own experiences and countless interviews with her peers, is a fascinating tell-all account of life as an ad woman in the male jungle of Madison Avenue.

“A bracing and consistently engaging look at the realities behind the fetishized nostalgia of Mad Men. Funny and informative, with the kick of a dry martini.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Hilarious! Honest, intimate, this book tells it as it was.” —Mary Wells Lawrence, author of A Big Life (In Advertising) and founding president of Wells Rich Greene

“I think of Jane Maas as a real-life Peggy Olsen. When I started at Ogilvy & Mather in 1971, a lowly Account Executive, she was already a creative director. She took me under her wing and taught me a lot about creative work that sells. Mad Women made me laugh. It also made me nostalgic for those legendary days when David Ogilvy roamed the corridors exhorting us all to come up with BIG IDEAS. And the book made me think again about working women. Jane reminds us that the challenge of being a good wife, a nurturing mother and a successful professional, all at the same time, still remains. In this respect, we are all Mad Women.” —Shelly Lazarus, Chairman of Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide

“In the Mad Men TV show, the males are depicted as shtupping their secretaries as they drink and smoke themselves to death, with nary a female copywriter in sight. In this damn funny book, the talented Jane Maas, who lived through those days of struggle and sometimes humiliation, tells it like it really was.” —George Lois, Legendary Ad Man

“The funniest book I've read since From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor.” —Jerry Della Femina, chairman and CEO of Della Femina Advertising and author of the best-selling From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor

“Truth is more fascinating than fiction. Maas tells the fascinating truth about mad men and the women in their boardrooms and bedrooms who juggled work, husbands and children successfully – and had as much fun doing it as you will reading about it.” —Anne Tolstoi Maslon, former ad woman and author of Women's Work, Private Scores, and Trials

“I thought I knew a lot about the advertising business, but Jane Maas gives us a unique peephole into the inner workings of Madison Avenue. Mad Women is a candid insider's view of the women--and men--who made modern advertising and what drove them. Great reading.” —Bob Liodice, CEO, Association of National Advertisers

“Maas's humorous yet authoritative account of her life in advertising during the Mad Men era is a welcome look behind the curtain into a traditionally male world… Maas mixes personal stories with advertising history, making this a compelling read.” —Publishers Weekly

“Don't be misled by the title: this book is far more than an overdue antidote to the fantasy ad world of Mad Men: under the guise of a Madison Avenue memoir, Jane Maas slips in a shrewd and witty first-hand sociocultural history of America in the sixties and the seventies from a woman's point of view. A smart, funny, irreverent woman.” —Bruce McCall, New Yorker writer and cover illustrator

“I read Mad Women in one delicious gulp. This is a terrific book, full of humor and information about the Mad Men - - and women - - of the world of the 1960s. Written by Jane Maas, one of the great ladies of advertising.” —Patricia Bosworth, author of Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman

“Jane Maas nails the story of the early "mad women" in advertising. I know. I lived the story at two different agencies. Yes, there was all of that sex at the office. Yes, there were three-martini lunches – sometimes with a chaser of brandy or crème de menthe or drambuie. (I still have a headache.) But would I do it all over again? Absolutely. Those years were a gas, captured perfectly by Jane Maas's funny and bittersweet book.” —Linda Bird Francke

“Jane Maas has written a book about advertising that isn't just for advertising people, although God knows they will find it fascinating. So will fans of Mad Men, who can compare the real thing with the TV series. Women of all ages will see themselves in its pages. Most of all, Mad Women is for anyone curious about what life was like in another century - - before computers, before cell phones, before equality.” —Laurel Cutler, groundbreaking futurist, 2011 inductee Advertising Hall of Fame

“A dishy memoir about the drinking, sex, smoking, and sexism that make that era in the industry...so fascinating.” —New York Post

“A tell-all about [Jane Maas's] days as a real-life Peggy Olson.” —People ("People Picks" choice)

“One woman looks back at a time when the proposition that sex sells was just catching on, and, thanks to martinis, overflowing ashtrays, and the pill, propositions were all the rage.” —Town & Country

“A breezy and salty memoir.” —The New York Times