Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Memoirs

THE GODDESS OF LOVE INCARNATE

Leslie Zemeckis

The Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr

Exceptional biography of the famous Lili St. Cyr, the queen of burlesque.

Lili St. Cyr, the undisputed queen of burlesque, was a legend in her own time. She racked up six marriages, romances with Orson Welles, Yul Brenner and Vic Damone, a number of suicide attempts, great fame and money, and then obscurity and poverty.

Prepared with the help of Lili’s sister Dandy, her only surviving relative, and based on many years of research, this is an exceptional biography in the vein of Scott Berg’s Kate Remembered and Victoria Wilson’s A Life of Barbara Stanwyck.

Leslie Zemeckis, wife of veteran director Robert Zemeckis, wrote Behind the Burly Q (Skyhorse 2013) and it’s optioned for a television series. She wrote/produced/ directed the critically acclaimed documentary based on the book, which was praised by USA Today and The New Yorker. Zemeckis also made the multi-award winning documentary Bound by Flesh, about vaudeville Siamese twin superstars Daisy and Violet Hilton.

Available products
Book Published 2015-09-01 by Counterpoint
Book Published 2015-09-01 by Counterpoint

Comments

The book is well-written and loaded with photos.

Ah, Lili St. Cyr! Finally, climbing beyond Gypsy Rose Lee we arrive at the glories of the exquisite Lili St. Cyr, the stripper who dressed, the classy woman who stripped, and who, with her movie-star beauty, sparkling glamour, and poignant vulnerability, was the real Beauty among the stars of the glorious Golden Age of burlesque. With her erudition, passion, and most of all love, Leslie Zemeckis has done her subject proud.

What's most resonant in Leslie Zemeckis's biography of Lili St. Cyr is how utterly human this Goddess of Love truly was. This is the story of a disciplined artist, a deeply generous woman, a girl who loved and lost (and loved and lost again and again), and a lady committed to living a determined life. This book, like its subject, is seductive and absolutely captivating.

Zemeckis brings an enigmatic and forgotten star back in the limelight and raises tough questions about beauty, sex, womanhood, and success in this fascinating lavishly (and racily) illustrated biography.

In her dazzling new book, Leslie Zemeckis captures the life and times of one of burlesque's true legends. A magnificent portrait of a complicated woman who once captured the fascination of America.

Leslie Zemeckis has written a definitive biography on the life of the legendary burlesque star Lili St. Cyr (1917-1999) and also an informative insight into the history of the times that helped shape and create the star. Goddess of Love Incarnate is thoroughly researched and documented (the end notes run more than 20 pages), you will feel like you've danced in Lili's heels, sipped champagne with her onboard a luxury liner to Europe, and heard the applause of the standing room only audiences . . . Leslie Zemeckis brings a wealth of burlesque history to Goddess of Love Incarnate; a fascinating tale of love and life lived in front of the spotlight. There is something in this book for everyone including how to succeed in burlesque by working your beautiful ass off!

The Goddess of Love Incarnate is a thorough and captivating account of a fascinating woman. Lili comes alive not only through Zemeckis' words, but also the stunning photographs included in the book. Her story reminds us to live life wholly and in the moment, because a life well lived has both tragedy and fulfillment at its peak.