The author of the acclaimed "New York Times" bestseller "Sin in the Second City" returns with the gripping and expansive story of America's coming-of-age--told through the extraordinary life of Gypsy Rose Lee and the world she survived and conquered.
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The author of the acclaimed "New York Times" bestseller "Sin in the Second City" returns with the gripping and expansive story of America's coming-of-age--told through the extraordinary life of Gypsy Rose Lee and the world she survived and conquered.
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Karen Abbott's first book, Sin in the Second City" tells the story of early Chicago with its houses of prostitution and its crusaders for virtue. In this, her second book, "American Rose", with the evocative subtitle, "A Nation Laid Bare" Abbott continues her story of American's and naughty sexuality in this biography of Gypsy Rose Lee (1911 -- 1970), probably the United States' foremost practitioner of the striptease. Ms Lee wrote her own memoirs in 1955, but Abbott's appears to be the third book-length biography, following Noralle Frankel's "Stripping Gypsy" and a shorter book, "Gypsy: the Art of the Tease" by Rachael Shteir.
Gypsy Rose Lee deserves the attention. Her life shows a remarkable tenacity and ambition, while she virtually created her own subtle form of stripping. She is also an enigmatic figure, difficult to get to know to herself as well as to her admirers. Intelligent, well-read, and largely self-educated, Gypsy wrote two novels, a screenplay, her memoirs, and much else. During the high point of her years as a stripper in the 1930s, she was surrounded by an admiring group of New York intellectuals and artists, in addition to a much less admirable group of gangsters and underworld figures.
In her biography, Abott works valiantly to understand a difficult and reclusive person. The book is based upon substantial archival research together with interviews of, among other people, Gypsy's sister June Havoc and her son, Eric Preminger. Abott pays a great deal of attention to Gypsy's early life and to her relationship to her mother, Rose. A violent, crude woman with hostilities to men, Rose pushed her two daughters into show business and vaudeville while they were little more than babies. The younger daughter, June, had the talent. Rose tried to have Gypsy, who showed little ability at singing, dancing, or acting, adopted to push her out of the way. As a young woman, June had the courage to leave her mother and ultimately achieved success as a serious actress and director. She and Gypsy were rivals and never truly reconciled from the pressures and competitions of their childhoods. Gypsy never seems to have shaken off her mother's baleful influence. Gypsy took to stripping (and adopted the name) at the age of 19 in seedy clubs in Kansas City and Toledo when she could not get vaudeville engagements. She was discovered by the Minsky brothers who operated burlesque houses in New York City and went on to fame. Her public personna as a stripper, Abbott, argues, differs markedly from her elusive private person. Gypsy grudgingly and teasingly showed her body, but kept her heart to herself. Abbott says Gypsy was in love only once in her life, with Michael Todd, who rebuffed her.
Abbott helped me understand Gypsy Rose Lee and her milieu. She is obviously fond of both Gypsy and June and appears to have a good understanding of the sisters' travails with Rose. She also does well with New York City nightlife, including the figures of the Minsky brothers, and the contrasting mayoralities of Jimmy Walker and Fiorello LaGuardia, both of whom play a large role in Gypsy's story. She describes the life of vaudeville and how that form of American entertainment fell victim to the radio and to the movies and also gives a good portrayal of the nature of burlesque and its rise during the Depression.
The book left me wanting more. It frustrated me in a negative way, far differently that Gypsy did with her teasing. (Abbott knows the difference between "strippers" and "teasers".) The writing in the book is mixed. At times, Abbott is self-consciously literary and overwrites, while in other places the writing is flat. The emphasis on the story sometimes falls in the wrong places. On the whole, the most convincing writing in the book occurs in the relatively small portions where Abbott describes what Gypsy did that made her famous -- slowly and tantalizingly take off her clothes to an expectant and leering audience. Gypsy's routines are described slowly and with erotic impact. Most of the other sections of the book, even where Abbott describes the Minsky's and their other dancers, do not have this power, not to speak of sexual impact.
A major problem with this book lies in its organization. (I had a similar reaction to "Sin in the Second City") Abbott flits back and forth among various times, places, and people in Gypsy's life rather than tell her story chronologically. Thus, the book begins and ends literally in the middle with Gypsy's appearance at the New York World's Fair in 1940. In between, it moves in a seemingly haphazard fashion among Gypsy and June's childhood, the vaudeville days, burlesque, Gypsy's personal life, her memoirs, the musical "Gypsy" and much else. The organization makes the book confusing and hard to follow. There was doubtless a reason for Abbott to present her story this way -- perhaps because it shows the collage-like, hectic character of Gypsy's life. But I didn't find the organization successful. It seemed to me pointless and to obstruct the story.
American sexuality and its expressions remain a fascinating subject. In her earlier book and in "American Rose", Abbott has partially explored them well. But this book is too much of a tease. Abbott told me enough to get me interested in Gypsy but her writing did not capture me. She left much more to be revealed.
Robin Friedman
Catherine B
Jun 27, 2011
Excellent tour-de-force
Great journey through vaudeville, New York in the 1920s and 30s and Gypsy's tumultuous life. Well-researched and extremely entertaining. I can't wait for the movie!
MaryJo C
Jan 10, 2011
DOUBLE IMMERSION
Karen Abbott has, once again, created a book of double immersion - hers and ours. Her dedicated research and introspective writing are total - there is no way that she would have offered less. Immersion for the reader is thought provoking, emotional and deeply fulfilling. The challenge to put this book down is immense. And sharing and going back to it is inevitable.
Ms. Abbott had the opportunity to speak with June Havoc before she died. There is magic in that. Despite the horror played out between mother and daughters of this story, a thread of connectedness comes to us as we imagine what it would be like to have known them.
Traveling back and forth across time deepens the attachment to each person. It is almost as if the book forces Gypsy Rose Lee's past to constantly catch up with her. One wonders how often she stepped outside herself to reflect during such chaotic times. There is a dream-like surrealistic aspect to all of it - and yet it happened.
Growing up in Chicago with its gangster legacy has often raised a question in my mind about actual life during early times. This amazing story of Gypsy Rose Lee's life captures so much detail thanks to Karen Abbott's fantastic writing.
After reading, I found YOUTUBE clips of June and Gypsy each taking a turn on the show WHAT'S MY LINE?. Watching each woman poised, funny and articulate after reading AMERICAN ROSE is bittersweet.
AMERICAN ROSE has given me a memorable experience.
