Product Description

Whenever stripper Gypsy Rose Lee encountered public criticism, she spoke frankly in her own defense. "Thousands have seen me at my--ah--best; and thousands have made no objections."
Noralee Frankel's lively biography, Stripping Gypsy, the first ever published about the highly mythologized Gypsy, examines the struggles Lee faced in making a lucrative and unconventional career for herself while maintaining a sense of dignity and social value. Frankel shows that the famous Miss Lee was an enigma, clearly struggling with her choices and her desire to be respected and legitimized. Those who know Gypsy Rose Lee only from the musical and film based on her rise to stardom will be surprised by what they uncover in Stripping Gypsy. In all ways, Lee trafficked in the incongruous: she was at once sex object, intellectual, and activist. In addition to her highly successful strip-tease act and film career, she published two mystery novels and a memoir, wrote two plays, and showed her original artwork in famed Modern Art-impresario Peggy Guggenheim's gallery. Lee also gained notoriety for her participation in liberal politics. As photographer Arnold Newman said, "She was a lady, a brilliant, bright woman who was the friend of many writers and intellectuals." Though she wasn't above using her femininity to full advantage, Lee aspired to much more than admiration for her physical beauty.
Frankel places Lee's life in social and political context while detailing a fascinating entertainment career, in which Lee created and recreated her own identity to fit changing times. Frankel's biography transcends the sensationalism of stripping and asks the public to see the woman beneath the costume, a woman who always kept a little of herself shrouded in mystery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #271501 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780195368031
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

"Her story is a fascinating one and also follows the culture of the time."--Graffiti
"[T]he fine study of famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee written by Noralee Frankel.... Frankel paints a complex portrait of a woman who was a stripper, writer, actress, talk show host, and patron of the arts; all the while raising important questions regarding gender and class in twentieth-century America.... Noralee Frankel has crafted a fine scholarly entertainment biography which should serve as a model for historians. Stripping Gypsy removes the hyperbole surrounding the renowned stripper and unveils the struggles of this intelligent and ambitious woman to push the boundaries of gender and class in twentieth-century America."--Ron Briley, History News Network
"BUST readers who are fans or practitioners of neo-burlesque will be thrilled to discover that historian Noralee Frankel has created the first truly scholarly biography of Gypsy Rose Lee. And in the same way that much of today's neoburlesque phenomenon is fueled by feminist underpinnings, so too does Frankel, in this exhaustively researched work, reveal the forward-thinking politics of this burlesque pioneer."--Bust Magazine
"...Frankel's well-researched 'Stripping Gypsy.' ... you find yourself turning pages quickly and yelling out factoids to beleaguered friends and family in the other room.... It is simply impossible to read these books and not fall in love with Gypsy's tenacity, wit and confounding, beguiling, oh-so-American mix of self-mythology and self-awareness."--Washington Post
"Frankel...presents a Gypsy you might not recognize from the glossy stage and screen bios of her life: here, she is conflicted, even tormented, by her choices and life paths. A new panning of some familiar material, perfect for a poolside lounge chair."--AARP Bulletin
"Frankel's biography [is] a good starting point for those wishing to learn more about Gypsy Rose Lee, largely owing to its start-to-finish overview of her life."-Yahoo! Shine
"[H]er meticulously researched book.... Stripping Gypsy is an intriguing and uncomplicated read, telling Gypsy Rose Lee's story from childhood to death.... It certainly sheds some light on a woman who spent so much time protecting her image and the reality of herself."--Sacramento Book Review
"[Stripping Gypsy is] impressive in its research.... Frankel's is valuable for its rich lode of period detail."--Open Letters

About the Author

Noralee Frankel is the Assistant Director, Women, Minorities, and Teaching at the American Historical Association. Her books include Freedom's Women: Black Women and Families in Civil War Era Mississippi and Break Those Chains at Last: African Americans, 1860-1880 (OUP, 1996). She lives in the Washington, D.C, area.

Customer Reviews

Insightful but lacking a writing style to match Gypsy's story
Let me say up front that I learned a lot from this book. The author has managed to wade through what we know about Gypsy Rose Lee--and what we THINK we know--and come up with a book that provides the most three-dimensional view of this unique performer.

That said, I found the author's pedestrian writing style a distraction, particularly in the first third of the book. (Either matters improved after that, or I became used to the clunky sentences that had made me want to get out my editing pencil and go to work.) Gypsy's energy and wit were phenomenal, but Frankel's dry, academic prose sometimes gets in the way.

Those familiar with Gypsy's own autobiography, and her son's book, will find this new book more enlightening, if not anywhere near as entertaining.

Fans of Gypsy Rose Lee, Rejoice!
Anyone who loved Gypsy Rose Lee's memoir, the musical "Gypsy," or even those lucky old-timers who actually got to see Miss Lee's performances way back when will rejoice when they read this book. Gypsy Rose Lee's life and career are covered in depth in this meticulously well-researched book by Noralee Frankel. Miss Lee had an overabundance of guts and a willingness to try several different entertainment mediums - which she hoped would lead her out of Burlesque - and her story has never been as well-presented as it is here. This is a treasure of a book and I can't recommend it enough!

The Naked Truth

No axes to grind. No reason to keep skeletons hidden in the cupboard. Truth be told, Noralee Frankel gives us a vital, living breathing woman as contemporary as today. In one highly entertaining body of work, Frankel weaves a social history with the political landscape of the 20th century. Ideal for the casual reader or serious scholar.

Gypsy, the autobiography, covered only the author's first 20-some years and glossed over the facts. This well-researched work explains in page-turner momentum who Gypsy Rose Lee really was, how she created and continued to re-invent herself in a tough man's-world market. In a century where everyone gets to be famous for 15 minutes, Gypsy reined queen, not only of burlesque, but best-seller books, theater, film and TV for decades. Who knew she put herself on the line for union rights for theater workers? Backed her lover, Mike Todd's, Broadway shows--and then starred in them? Survived and worked right through the McCarthy era. Everybody's here from Fanny Brice, June Havoc, crazy "Momma Rose" to the famous of Hollywood and Broadway. I couldn't put the book down until I finished the last page.