Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture

by Robert C. Allen

Book Overview

Robert Allen's compelling book examines burlesque not only as popular entertainment but also as a complex and transforming cultural phenomenon. When Lydia Thompson and her controversial female troupe of "British Blondes" brought modern burlesque to the United States in 1868, the result was electric. Their impertinent humor, streetwise manner, and provocative parodies of masculinity brought them enormous popular success--and the condemnation of critics,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807843164
• ISBN13: 9780807843161
• Release Date: May 1991
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Enchanting and Thought Provoking

This enchanting work brings the burlesque back to life! When Lydia Thompson hit New York theaters in 1868, she and her troupe were an immediate success. But she also initiated a vituperative debate over the appropriate limits for the female performer. Robert Allen vividly describes how Americans increasingly put aside their religious reservations and took to the theater by the mid-19th century. He first examines the physical and social arrangement of space within the theater auditorium. He then takes his reader on a journey through the male-impersonating, revealingly attired, slang-spouting, minstrel-dancing burlesque women to their descendants - the cooch dancers and modern day striptease. A unique book for entertainment buffs and feminist thinkers alike. To read actual burlesque plays see "The Best Burlesque Sketches".