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	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher

BEHIND THE BURLY Q

Blaze Starr Leslie Zemeckis

The Story of Burlesque in America

BEHIND THE BURLY Q is the definitive history of burlesque during its heyday and an invaluable oral history of an American art form. Funny, shocking, unbelievable, and heartbreaking, their stories will touch your hearts. Behind the Burly Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance.

By the director of the hit documentary "Behind the Burly Q" comes the first ever oral history of American Burlesque--as told by the performers who lived it, often speaking out here for the first time. By telling the intimate and surprising stories from its golden age through the women (and men!) who lived it, BEHIND THE BURLY Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance. Burlesque was one of America's most popular forms of live entertainment in the first half of the 20th century. Gaudy, bawdy, and spectacular, the shows entertained thousands of paying customers every night of the week. And yet the legacy of burlesque is often vilified and misunderstood, left out of the history books. Lovingly interviewed by burlesque enthusiast Leslie Zemeckis who produced the hit documentary of the same name, are former musicians, strippers, novelty acts, club owners, authors, and historians--assembled here for the first time ever to tell you just what really happened in a burlesque show. From Jack Ruby and Robert Kennedy to Abbott and Costello--burlesque touched every corner of American life. The sexy shows often poked fun at the upper classes, at sex, and at what people were willing to do in the pursuit of sex. Sadly, many of the performers have since passed away, making this their last, and often only interview. Leslie Zemeckis is an author, actress, and award-winning documentarian. Zemeckis wrote, directed, and produced the award-winning Bound by Flesh about Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton as well as the critically acclaimed Behind the Burly Q, a definitive history of burlesque. An icon of the burlesque industry BLAZE STARR did more than merely take her clothes off during the heyday of burlesque. With an act that included panthers and a couch that burst into flames, Blaze was a nation-wide sensation. Known as much for her voluptuous figure as for her affairs with Earl Long and John F. Kennedy, Blaze remains a true original and one of the last living legends of burlesque.

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Book Published 2013-06-01 by Skyhorse

Comments

A privileged front-row seat to the history of burlesque! Glorious ladies in their heyday . . . their long-ago stripteases still pack a sensual, sassy, what-the-hell punch, while juicy anecdotes run from raunchy to touching to funny to flat-out incredible.

Zemeckis offers a rich, colorful narrative that provides a vivid sense of the era.

Behind the Burly Q takes you back . . . to burlesque's last hurrah in the 1960s.

Charming...a delight! It's great that Zemickis immortalized these women.

Intriguing... fans of theatrical history are well advised to check it out.

Taps into a world of burlesque as we've never seen it before.

A privileged front-row seat to the history of burlesque! Glorious ladies in their heyday...their long-ago stripteases still pack a sensual, sassy, what-the-hell punch, while juicy anecdotes run from raunchy to touching to funny to flat-out incredible.

Utterly entertaining Behind the Burly Q is a painstakingly researched love letter to the women and men who once made up the community of burlesque performers…its treasure trove of vintage photographs and performance footage is enough to make historians and fans of classic erotica swoon…insightful, fascinating.

The salty reminiscences of participants in the classic age of burlesque enliven this companion volume to a documentary film directed by the author.

The hefty book . . . allows Zemeckis to go beyond the first-person accounts of the movie and get into the social history that led burlesque to evolve from a satirical theatrical format into the kind of activity that many modern culture-lovers think belongs in a strip club."

This rich history, rife with vibrant quotes and first-hand insights from burlesque’s biggest dancers, is indispensable for fans of the ribald pastime.

Zemeckis does a masterful job in capturing the feelings, struggles, behavior, living conditions and behind the stage activities of these women.

.many creatively named burlesque stars - Tempest Storm, Candy Cotton, Blaze Starr, Candy Barr, Val Valentine, Tee Tee Red, the list goes on - interviewed at poignant, amusing and enlightening length in a new book, Behind the Burly Q: The Story of Burlesque in America.

Charming . . . often entertaining . . . The present-day interviews with these women are a delight and also poignant, partly because of the contrast between their older and younger selves, though mostly because of the lives they lived . . . It’s great that she immortalized these women.

A well-researched, intimate portrait of burlesque and the women who teased and seduced their ways into the hearts of the American public.