A remarkable book about a talented and original woman, and the times in which she lived, survived, and became a cultural icon. The depth of Karen Abbott's research and detail in her writing was engaging and provided the reader with a multidimensional perspective of "Gypsy." ( )

Non-fiction that reads like a novel. Gypsy Rose Lee was interesting. Rose Louise Hovick (her real name) was even more so. And Mama Rose was a psychopath. ( )

I have been interested in Gypsy Rose Lee since I saw the musical with Bernadette Peters (my idol) when I was 13. I was enchanted. I bought the cast recording and listened to it over and over and over until I knew every single word to every single song. It only took about a day. After about three days, my mother was ready to throw my cd player out the window. So, I saw this at the library and snatched it up. A about a third of it I already knew, but a lot of it I didn't. I found the sections on the Minksy brothers annoying and long and there were too many of them. I didn't care. I wanted to read about Gypsy, not them. So that was my main flaw with the book, there were a lot of chapters dealing with them that I just couldn't bring myself to care about and mostly skipped. It was well written and you could see that the biographer really did her research. All in all, a few parts were a bit boring, but it was a well written and interesting read for people who like Gypsy, and June (there is some good info on June as well). ( )

American Rose is a part memoir of Gypsy Rose Lee and part history of burlesque. Chapters jump back and forth into the life of Gypsy and the rise of The Minsky brothers theatres of burlesque.

I have always been a fan of the musical Gypsy which was written about the real-life actress/ burlesque star. I learned so much about her and her family. She not only had acted in movies but wrote 2 mystery books, and had a child. Every time she tried to leave burlesque she would always find herself back. Although the musical based on her life had its bright moments I think the truth is Gypsy went through much more dark times than this book expanded on.

I was less interested in the rise and fall of the Minsky brothers and their theatres. Yes, Gypsy’s history does cross with theirs but I just never cared about their struggles. Even though I learned so much about Gypsy’s life there were parts of her history that were so strange and shocking but were only glanced over. For instance, it was rumored Gypsy’s mother Rose and possibly Gypsy herself killed a homeless man. How can you just nonchalantly mention killing someone and then go back to Gypsy house parties? It was so shocking.

I might read more about Gypsy and maybe the books she wrote. I am still very curious about the fact Rose and Gypsy might have been serial killers. ( )

The subject matter was initially intriguing but the writing style detracted from the telling, with the changes from chapter to chapter, both in time and the main character. Too often, the narrative was overwhelmed by details about the Hovick Family story, then interrupted by the Minsky Family story. Eventually these threads are brought together but by then I didn't care anymore. While the author researched the life and times of Gypsy Rose Lee from difficult source material, the biographical sense never seemed to prevail. ( )