"Remember, Mother, I'm only a child--": Growing up in San Francisco, earthquake, influenza, and art school -- "She leaves home and leads her own life--within reason, that is": Life in Manhattan, the birth of The New Yorker, and finding a feminist voice -- "I'd be very peculiar, if I had the money": Wanderlust, love, and the art colonies of Woodstock, New York -- "Henry wants me to take a trip around the world, but I'd rather go somewhere else": Gallery exhibitions, travel, and illustration work -- "You see, she's absolutely faithful to her inner vision--even if against her judgment, sometime": Esquire magazine, Hollywood, and making money in a man's world -- "Oh dearie, have a big wedding, then you'll have something nice to remember": World War II, modern art, and a wedding kept under wraps -- "Now forget you're drawing for the Tweedlebaum Tomato Soup Co.--let yourself go!": Advertising illustration, newspaper syndication, and working with gag writers -- "She's an exceptional woman--thinks like a man!" Women break into the National Cartoonists Society -- "You should have seen me ten years ago": Late career, friends as family, and life in Sea Bright, New Jersey

"Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins doubles as an official biography and coffee table art collection honoring the life and art of pioneering cartoonist Barbara Shermund, an unheralded early master of magazine cartooning whose career spanned the heyday of American magazines from the 1920s-1960s. Her sharp wit and loose style boldly tapped the zeitgeist of first-wave feminism with vivid characters that were alive and astute. Shermund's women spoke their minds about sex, marriage, and society; smoked cigarettes and drank; and poked fun at everything in an era when it was not common to see young women doing so. Shermund left behind a body of work that was ahead of its time and remains insightful, witty, relevant, and contemporary" --