[An] extraordinary figure ... Though the book is a biography of Robinson, it also paints a picture of a changing California, from the Victorian era through the Spanish flu ... Deeply researched, Listen, World! includes passages from Robinson’s columns, books and letters, among other sources ... The book’s prose is clear and engaging, with vivid descriptions.

An engaging tale that doesn’t gloss over the extreme adversity and restrictions Robinson faced as a woman of much ambition and few means ... The book trails off somewhat, glossing over Robinson’s later marriage to a man who spends all her money ... The absence of other voices — readers, colleagues, friends — makes it difficult to gauge what sort of influence she actually wielded. At times Listen, World! reads less like biography than a heavily annotated, if enjoyable, memoir ... Still, much like her devoted audience, one does not tire of spending time with Elsie Robinson, nor stop wondering how many other women, with equally compelling tales, have also been lost to history.

At this point — the start of her newspaper career — the book Listen, World! is more than two-thirds finished. And that may be something of a clue as to why Robinson is not well remembered. What made her most interesting is the nervy life that came before, which Scheeres and Gilbert have ably stitched together in no small part, they acknowledge, by fact-checking Robinson’s 1934 memoir. What stands out most about Robinson’s career, though, is her astounding productivity.

... lively ... We learn little about her newspaper work—her scathing, witty denunciations of sexism, racism, anti-Semitism and capital punishment—because we are three-quarters of the way through the book before she, at age 35, lands her first newspaper gig...There are two good reasons for this imbalance. The first is that there is compelling primary material on the first half of Robinson’s life....The second reason, I suspect, is that Robinson has given us such an enthralling account of her fight for independence that it would be a shame to dilute it. There are graceful passages giving context and describing settings, but for the most part the authors rely on Robinson’s voice for the narrative ... There is no punchy memoir in Robinson’s voice for the second half of her life, only glimpses of the woman who urged readers to seize their lives with both hands and conquer their fears. The lack of other voices in this biography means that, when present, Robinson controls the story. Once locked behind her professional persona, she becomes more impenetrable ... Yet Ms. Scheeres and Ms. Gilbert have made an important contribution to women’s history. Their intent is clear.

The authors describe in page-turning detail how she pursues a career in writing and illustrating back home in California, a place that offered her more freedom and a milder climate that she hoped would help her ailing asthmatic son ... This engaging and well-researched biography reads like a novel and should appeal to readers interested in journalism, women’s studies, and adventure tales alike.

The authors document all these early travails before turning to Robinson’s professional success, which eventually led to her becoming the highest paid female writer at Hearst. A fascinating topic and solid biography that should please women’s history fans.

In this captivating biography, Scheeres and Gilbert let Elsie Robinson speak for herself, leaving us with an indelible impression of a life lived with ingenuity and courage.

A page-turning biography ... The authors paint a vivid picture of the challenges Robinson faced ... The account is enlivened with copious excerpts from Robinson’s column and her memoir, all of which bring home her firebrand style. This entertaining account delivers.