Gypsy Rose Lee

This autobiography follows Gypsy Rose Lee from her childhood in vaudeville to her career as the queen of burlesque

A Memoir

Gypsy

Legendary stripper serves up a witty whodunit that's also a colorful portrait of the burlesque demimonde.

The G-string Murders

Mother finds a body

Gypsy, a Memoir

“Burlesque is the background . . . [and] the background is perfect. Recommended for the readers who feel better when their eyebrows are raised.” —The New Yorker A mystery set in the underworld of burlesque theater, The G-String Murders was penned in 1941 by the legendary queen of the stripteasers—the witty and wisecracking Gypsy Rose Lee. Narrating a twisted tale of a backstage double murder, Lee provides a fascinating look behind the scenes of burlesque, richly populated by the likes of strippers Lolita LaVerne and Gee Gee Graham, comic Biff Brannigan and Siggy the g-string salesman. This is a world where women struggle to earn a living performing bumps and grinds, have gangster boyfriends, sip beer between acts and pay their own way at dinner. Femmes Fatales restores to print the best of women’s writing in the classic pulp genres of the mid-20th century. From mystery to hard-boiled noir to taboo lesbian romance, these rediscovered queens of pulp offer subversive perspectives on a turbulent era. Enjoy the series: Bedelia; Bunny Lake Is Missing; By Cecile; The G-String Murders; The Girls in 3-B; Laura; The Man Who Loved His Wife; Mother Finds a Body; Now, Voyager; Return to Lesbos; Skyscraper; Stranger on Lesbos; Stella Dallas; Women’s Barracks. “[Lee’s] novel is a rich and lusty job, brimming over with infectious vitality and a hilarious jargon of her own.” —Life “A lurid, witty and highly competent detective story . . . Rich show business vocabulary and stage door gags make her book almost a social document . . . The G-String Murders builds up to a hair-raising climax.” —Time

The G-String Murders

Narrating the twisted tale of a backstage double murder, Gypsy Rose Lee, the queen of the striptease, provides a tantalising glimpse into the underworld of burlesque theatre in 1940s America. When one performer is found strangled with a G-string, no one is above suspicion. A host of clueless coppers face off against the theatre's tough-talking guys and dolls, and when a second murder occurs, it's clear that Gypsy and her cohorts will have to crack the case themselves. A dazzling and wisecracking murder mystery noir that was the basis of the 1943 film Lady of Burlesque, starring Barbara Stanwyck. "Burlesque is the background ... [and] the background is perfect. Recommended for the readers who feel better when their eyebrows are raised." The New Yorker "A lurid, witty and highly competent detective story... Rich showbusiness vocabulary and stage-door gags make her book almost a social document. The G-String Murders build up to a hair-raising climax." Time magazine "[Lee's] novel is a rich and lusty job, brimming over with infectious vitality and a hilarious jargon of her own." Life

Gypsy Rose Lee

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