Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

This is the last book on the burlesque shelf!

Burlesque and the Art of the Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese by Dita Von Teese (2006).

This is two books in one. When you finish reading about burlesque according to Dita, flip the book upside down and read about fetish according to Dita!

Most of the text is Dita on how fabulous it is to be Dita. She tells of her transformation from a shy and dowdy girl to a glamourous burlesque star. You have to admire her dedication and marketing. There’s also a light history of burlesque, some interesting tidbits and trivia in sidebars, and a makeup guide by decade. There are other, better books on those subjects, but you didn’t buy this book to learn about burlesque history. You want to look at photos of Dita and be seduced by the fantasy of her life. And the photographs are gorgeous.

This will be my last book review for a while, until I get some more burlesque books!

Dear Constant Reader,

I’m getting to the end of the book collection. Just a few more remain on the shelf. This is the last biography, the story of one of my inspirations:

Sally Rand: From Film to Fans by Holly Knox (1988).

In 1932 Sally Rand auditioned for The Paramount Club in Chicago and her life changed.

With mere hours to put together an act, she bought two large feathered fans at a second-hand store and hastily began making a Grecian-style gown. She planned to dance to a record of harp music. Her gown wasn’t ready in time for curtain and all the music was provided by a piano player. She asked him to play Debussy’s “Claire de Lune” and went on stage with nothing but her fans to cover her.

It was 8 minutes of magic. And she continued to perform that same act for almost 50 years.

As for what occurred before that night and after, I leave that to the book to tell. The author, Holly Knox, performed in Sally’s show in the 1950’s. She profiles a dedicated performer, a producer, a mother, a religious woman who swore like a trucker. Miss Rand was both generous and tight-fisted. She created two etherial acts — the fan dance and the bubble dance — but never shied away from getting her hands dirty. There’s a photo of her up on a ladder, assembling her own sets.

A number of b&w photographs of varying quality. No bibliography or notes. As far as I can tell, the only book on Sally Rand. You can (and should) buy it directly from the author via Amazon. She sends it inscribed “Have a fan-tastic read”.

If you’re going to be sorry to see my book reviews come to end, there are still a few burlesque books I have my eye on right here on my wishlist.

Dear Constant Reader,

This week marks the birthday of a lovely and truly magical lady, Dusty Summers! This is her story.

The Lady is a Stripper by Dusty Summers (2001).

To say that Donna had a lousy childhood would be an understatement. Her father was abusive, both physically and psychologically, and her mother refused to see it. Donna loved school, so her father made her quit. Finally, she ran away, and after she found someone who would listen to her woes, instead of just sending her back to her parents, she had a few years of happiness in foster care.

After an early marriage and divorce, at 18, in 1966, she found herself at the Airport Inn in Tucson applying to work as a bikini go-go dancer. Dusty Summers was born.

That was only the beginning. There were more marriages (nine total!), children, and a change from go-go to exotic dancing. Then Dusty met Professor Turban and her life changed again — she married him and he taught her magic. Abracadabra! She became Las Vegas’s Only Nude Magician.

And there’s even more, but I’ll leave that to the reader to discover.

Dusty’s story is often hard to read. The abuse she suffered from her parents and some of her husbands is heartbreaking. However, her determination, her accomplishments, and her love for her sister and daughters are inspirational. Throughout it all she was always classy, never raunchy, unashamed, completely a lady.

She’s still performing today, and if you have the chance to see her, don’t hesitate. Her magic is amazing and her performance skills are top-notch.

Dear Constant Reader,

Today’s review is particularly timely as there is a big party in L.A. tomorrow to celebrate the release of this book.

It’s All That Glitters: Portraits of Burlesque Performers in Their Homes, by Brian C. Janes (2012).

Photographer Brian Janes traveled around the country photographing burlesque performers in their homes, as the subtitle says. The performers were asked to be in costume and in some room of their house. Some are in the bedroom, some the bathroom, some their burlesque room. Some have been carefully styled to create a lovely backdrop for the performer’s personality, others were just as it is. All say “performer in her/his natural habitat”. Occasionally pets or children make an appearance.

Accompanying each full-page portrait is the performer’s own words, explaining what burlesque is to them.

I’m privileged to be one of the performers featured, along with Scratch and Betty. So if you get the book you’ll see my naked rear (I’m posing with my fans, of course) and well as my disaster of a sewing room. Brian really liked the overflowing bins of fabric, the overflowing book cases, the extension cords snaking across the floor (my overhead light needed to be replaced) and generally clutter. I think it’s funny that you can’t see my sewing machine, the usual centerpiece of the room, because it’s hidden behind me.

Dear Constant Reader,

Despite being so close to reviewing the last burlesque book in my collection, today’s book is not about burlesque at all.

Fox’s Folly: a Duals and Donovans story by Teresa Noelle Roberts (2012).

Full disclosure, the author is a friend of mine from way back. Teresa writes erotic paranormal romances, which means hot sex with a side of supernatural.

Her Duals and Donovans series is set in a world very much like ours, but with The Different — that is, witches, ghosts, demons, fae, and duals (shape-shifters) — mostly hidden from us “normies”. Fox’s Folly is the story of how Paul Donovan, a witch specializing in sex magic, and Taggart Ross, a fox dual, met while on the trail on a supernatural murderer. The attraction between the two men is instant (not surprising for readers of Foxes’ Den in which they are a long married couple) and the sex is steamy. But the murder mystery never gets forgotten, even when the sparks are flying.

There’s a lot of passion in her stories, both erotic and romantic. The author clearly believes in true love, although not necessarily with only one person (check out Lions’ Pride)… or creature… (see A Satyr for Midwinter, the last book in her Seasons of Sorania Cycle for some of that). You’ll sigh over the romance as much as over the lust (well, maybe not sigh).

The best part of Teresa’s books is that while the sex scenes are sizzling, the characters are well-developed and the plot is engaging. Well, that and that they are all available as ebooks, so you can be discrete about your reading. (wink)

Dear Constant Reader,

Just a few more books remain on the shelf and several of them are memoirs or biographies.

The Lady is a Vamp by Tempest Storm (The Last Superstar of Burlesque) with Bill Boyd (1987).

Tempest Storm is one of the true living legends of burlesque. She still performs, still has a fantastic figure and a mane of flaming red hair, and still dazzles. I’ve had the honor of appearing in her “Las Vegas Burlesque Revue” and can say first hand that she’s a gracious lady.

But all was not glamour when she was a little girl. Born Annie Blanche Banks to a sharecropping family in Georgia, she knew only hard work. As a teenager she learned quickly that her large bust only lead to heartbreak and abuse. At 14 she was supporting herself as a waitress and dreaming of fame in Hollywood, despite her crooked teeth. When she finally did get to California and became a burlesque dancer, fame and fortune did quickly follow.

When she first began working in burlesque, Lillian Hunt, her boss, gave her some advice that is still worth following: “…watch what you eat.” “…drinking and dancing don’t mix” “…leave the cigarettes alone…” “Your body is your instrument. Take care of it.”

Storm quickly moved from chorus girl to stripper. After being falsely accused by Lili St. Cyr of sabotaging the star’s act (someone else discarded straight pins on the stage and Miss St. Cyr stepped on them in her bare feet), the newly (and appropriately) named Tempest Storm fought back and was quickly shipped off to another theatre, but as the headliner. And she’s been a headliner ever since.

There’s not a great deal on career other than how successful she was and what fabulous gowns she wears. She does talk very briefly about developing her signature act, but that’s about it.

Much of the book is about her relationships. She was involved with a lot of men who were abusive, jealous, and possessive, including some of her husbands. She’s not shy about detailing their cruelties. On the other hand, she spends a lot of time recalling the various celebrities she bedded, from Elvis and JFK to Nat King Cole and Mickey Rooney. She treats these lovers with affection and occasional wistfulness.

Bettie Page fans will be disappointed that Miss Storm doesn’t even mention her appearance in Irving Klaw’s film Teaserama, let alone dish about it.

I hope that someday our paths will cross again, because her book won’t be complete until my copy is autographed. : )

Dear Constant Reader,

The Corpse Wore Pasties by Jonny Porkpie (2009).

Jonny Porkpie is in big trouble. A much hated burlesque dancer has just died on stage — no, not flopped, really died, murdered — and the self-proclaimed Burlesque Mayor of New York is the likeliest suspect, since he was the one who handed her the bottle of poison she drank on stage. Attempting to find the real murderer and clear his name, against the advice of his long-suffering wife, Nasty Canasta, Jonny finds himself in a number of peculiar predicaments: chased by a heavy metal band across the Brooklyn Bridge, drugged in a dominatrix’s dungeon, hiding the the Hindenberg… Will he uncover the killer before it’s too late?

Despite being published by Hard Case Crime and having a noir title and pulp-worthy cover painting, The Corpse Wore Pasties is a pretty light and fluffy murder mystery. If you’re a burlesque fan, you’ll enjoy the peek backstage. If you’re into NYC burlesque, you’ll have fun deciphering the thinly disguised performers and venues. If you’re a lover of hardboiled detective stories, you’ll be disappointed.

It’s hard for me tell if this book will fly outside the burlesque community. I recognize the cast of characters and (sadly) know all about the incident that sparked the writing. I found the whole thing rather cute, but I don’t know how it wil be received by someone without any knowledge of the burlesque scene.

Jonny Porkpie the author is not much different from Jonny Porkpie the character. You can decided for yourself if that’s a good thing. The book is amusing, firmly tongue in cheek (there’s an obvious joke there that I’m going ignore), and clearly a first novel. Airplane or beach reading.

And with this, I have 6 books left on the to-be-reviewed shelf (5 if I bat my lashes really hard and Scratch writes a guest review of Baggy Pants Comedy: Burlesque and the Oral Tradition).

Dear Constant Reader,

Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture by Robert C. Allen (1991).

There was burlesque before striptease! In 1868 Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes brought burlesque to America. Professor Allen examines its effect on theatre and on society. Early burlesque was a form of musical satire. Popular tunes and themes were rewritten to spoof current social norms. Women were the stars and frequently played men, in abbreviated classical costumes, showing off their legs. “Thompsonian” burlesque was considered a threat to the cultural norms, giving women power and sexuality on stage.

By the 1890’s burlesque had changed so much that Lydia Thompson said she did not recognize the art form she had brought to America and it was going to change even further. For one thing, women lost their voices on stage and became merely objects of desire, showing their legs and even more and more. By the 1920’s striptease had become an indelible part of burlesque.

If you are interested in early burlesque, this is the book. It’s an academic work, thoroughly annotated, with a large bibliography.

Dear Constant Reader,

I know Wednesdays are my book review day, but I know you’ll forgive me this lapse. Things have been a little higgledy-piggledy lately, what with the tour and me being sick *again*. I swear I’ve had this rotten cough 4 times this year. It usually knocks me flat for about 2 weeks. But the show must go on… Enough complaining, here’s your review.

The American Burlesque Show by Irving Zeidman (1967).

Mr. Zeidman is a self-proclaimed expert on burlesque. According to his bio he has “read almost everything written on this historically obscure phase of show business” and that “no burlesque theatre has opened on closed in the New York metropolitan area since 1930 without being subject to his personal scrutiny.” The result is a history of burlesque in America, from The Black Crook to the fading out of burlesque in his present day.

Each chapter takes on a single topic, such as the wheels, impressarios (including the Minskys, of course), strippers, comedy, candy butchers, and censorship. They’re roughly in a chronological order, showing the different facets of burlesque, but little linkage between chapters, creating almost individual essays rather than a narrative history. Not surprisingly, a lot of the focus is burlesque in New York. The author assumes his reader is familiar with burlesque already, so this isn’t the best introduction to the topic. He’s frequently snide about his subject, but occasionally affectionate, making the reader wonder where his sympathies lie. His closing remarks about sum it up: “American burlesque has given a livelihood to thousands upon thousand of performer, musicians, stagehands, ushers, producers, candy butchers and censors. It has provided countless hours of unmitigated boredom, and many other hours of genuine pleasure. It has served as a proving ground for talent. It may have given some surcease to the lonely, the derelict, the sexually driven. Beyond that, one cannot and should not hope for more, or expect less.”

There are some photographs throughout and a very limited bibliography.