Gypsy: A Memoir

Gypsy Rose Lee was a beautiful and spirited woman and her memoir provides the reader with a fascinating glimpse into the rough and tumble glory days of American vaudeville. The reader is literally taken on the road with Gypsy, or Louise Hovick, her demanding, neurotic stage mother, Mama Rose, and precocious younger sister, Baby June,(who later became actress June Havoc) as they crisscross America with a troupe of young boys in a quest for stardom on the stages of the vaudeville theater circuit. Louise, the older, more neglected sister, "an ugly duckling" compared to her more popular sister, becomes the focus of her domineering mother's attention after the much put upon Baby June elopes with a boy from the show troupe at the tender age of thirteen. It is not the dream of Mama Rose for Louise to become a stripper, but the age of vaudeville has ended abruptly with the coming of talking motion pictures and live burlesque shows are all the rage. Mama Rose realizes for the first time that taken out of her sister's shadow, Louise is a natural performer. Thus, the ugly duckling emerges as a truly beautiful swan and the legend of Gypsy Rose Lee was born. Personally, I found this book hard to put down. Gypsy's life story could easily be described as "Aunt Mame In A G-String." She would make an interesting next door neighbor.

If you're a fan of the musical Gypsy, like me, you'll read this book. I've read from various websites, that the book is not entirely factual and that you need to read Gypsy's sister June's book, early Havoc, to get a clearer picture of what life on the road was like. But, entirely accurate or not, it's highly fascinating and an excellent look at the theatre of the time. The book bears small resemblances to the show: There really was a monkey named Gigalo, Louise was given farm animals as pets for her birthday, there is a man that Rose links up with for several years who manages the troup, they did eat Chinese food constantly, make coats out of blankets, and a cow really talked to Rose in a dream. There are major differences between the show and the book: The switch from Vaudeville to Burlesque was less dramatic in the book than the show -almost natural. "Herbie", Rose's companion and manager, left long before the act went Burlesque. And one very 'big' difference: you'll notice in the show that Grandpa calls Louise "Plug" but we dont' really know why. The little girl playing Louise was too adorable for words and grew up to be the stunning Natalie Wood. But, Gypsy got the name plug because she was a large child. And she grew up large. It wasn't until a couple years in Burlesque that she became more svelte. This is also a major point in the books, detailing the diets she was on and how it destroyed her self-esteem as a child. Gypsy, the movie, is a fun-filled version of life on the road for a vaudeville troupe. Yes, there are hard times, but nothing so bad. Gypsy the memoir describes eviction, near starvation, nights of sleeping in the cars, almost frozen, con artists - real life struggle. It's a quick read that is terribly fascinating. I highly recommend it.

Many people don't knwo who Gypsy Rose Lee was, if you don't she was one of the most highly respescted highly, highly paid strip teasers in the business. What made her different though was the class with which she did it. There was nothing leude, or vulgar about her acts, which was what made her a star. If you like reading about lives you normally wouldn't, like a burlesque queen. Then this is definately for you. She had an amazing life, and anyone can learn alot about how to face life through this book. It is not that long and is fast paced, filled with comedic interludes. All I can say is enjoy the show...

Gypsy is one of the most well written memoirs I have read. It is definitly a must read. For anyone who wants to get taken back to the "good" old days, of the traveling Vaudeville circuit, and the risky days of burlesque. Gypsy is the book for you. The memoirs of America's most celebrated stripper are a hilarious account of her childhood in vaudeville, and her rise to stardom in burlerque.

This is one of the best books I have ever read! Never have I experienced such drama and entertainment. There was no spot in this book that I wanted to stop and do anything else. This kept me interested right through the last sentence. This is a book about a girl raised in vaudeville who becomes the queen of the strip tease. But her act is just that, tease. She was incredible.