Let Me Entertain You...

I've been spending a lot of time on public transportation lately, and so have had a lot of time to read. Aside from being crazy obsessed with the Pretty Little Liars series (so bad. And yet, so good.), I've also been reading Karen Abbott's American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare, the Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee.

I went into this book thinking I knew the story - I have, after all, seen Gypsy the musical fable severally, read Gypsy's autobiography and even her son's book, Gypsy & Me. The story is familiar - trouping the vaudeville circuit, at the end the era of that kind of entertainment. Baby June's crazy ability (very much exploited) to dance on pointe when she was only 2 years old, which probably led her to flee the act as a teenager. The creation of Gypsy Rose Lee, internationally renowned famous person and burlesque queen, from Rose Louise Hovick - the not very talented, self-taught girl, nicknamed "the Duchess".

This is a story about identity - Rose Louise, born June Ellen Hovick, had her name taken away from her when her cute as a button baby sister was born (thus becoming Baby/Dainty June AKA June Havoc in later years). But who is this girl? She is an early day Madonna of sorts, recreating herself to fit whatever image suits her at the time. Stripteaser extraordinaire? Check. TV talk show hostess? Check. Mother? Check. Pretty Princess of Fabulous Literary Salons and exclusive Parties? Check Check Check. A true ecdysiast (a word coined for her) - shedding her skin on stage and in life. Giving things away but keeping a lot to herself. The shy quiet Louise, desperate to be a star and seeking Mother's attention, that we grew to know and love from the musical? That story is the way Gypsy wanted it to be, maybe not necessarily the way things were. Hence the use of the word "fable" in the show's title.

This is also the story of America in the early 20th century. A time of notorious political corruption, post WWI isolationism, and the start of the Great Depression. This era saw the rise of burlesque as popular entertainment, chronicled in the book through the story of the brothers Minsky.

Several narrative threads come together masterfully in this book, the story of Gypsy, her relationship with her mother and with June, a tale of entertainment (and morality) in Depression-era America, before our rise to Superpowerhood, innocence lived and lost.