And you would not believe where!
The G-String Murders, by Gypsy Rose Lee (HC, 1941, $3, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Once upon a time "when Gypsy Rose Lee was in Hollywood, Walter Winchell asked her to do a guest column while he was on vacation. She said she would." The next time he went on vacation, she "found she had lots left to say. So she wrote the first two chapters of The G-String Murders."
Gypsy Rose Lee " confesses that she has had three major ambitions. The first was to own a mink coat. Once acquired, it was too heavy to wear. The second was to own diamond bracelets. When she got them they were stolen and she never bothered to replace them.
The third was to write a book- The Men I Have Loved: or, From Minsky to Zanuck- and dedicate it to Walter Winchell. Instead, she wrote The G-String Murders. She says: I guess that's what you call wishful thinking."
The idea of Gypsy Rose Lee writing a murder mystery intrigued me. The book did not. I actually only read half of it before I gave it up. There must have been more murders later on because when I stopped reading there had only been one. I was sure disappointed in the book. I thought I would learn about the business of stripping. All I learned was that when the police were expected, net pants were worn, and when they weren't, G-strings were. Oh, and that a traveling g-string salesman with his suitcase stopped periodically at the theater.
Still, I am glad I had the fun of finding this book. To think Gypsy wrote a book? She may very well have been a smart cookie, and a skillful writer for the time, but those are not things that first come to mind when you think of her.
Enjoy this book, to be found in the HC fiction section, avail. 3/23.
