Sally Rand a beautiful woman with star quality. She fan danced her way into infamy and that is so wonderful. She is truly an icon.

I was looking forward to learning more about Sally Rand, one of the first women to be famous for being famous (or infamous). Sadly, this book didn’t really help me out. It was poorly written, with a lot of repetition and bouncing back and forth in its timing so that when the reader returned to the ‘present’ they had lost any narrative thread there was. Much of what I read seemed surface instead of getting into the mind and times of Sally Rand- part of which may have been lack of anything like diaries where we can get into Sally’s mind. About half way through the book I stopped, which is almost unheard of for me. But I just couldn’t take the writing anymore. Overall the book was highly disappointing and painful to read through because of the writing. If I decide to try learning more about Sally sometime in the future, I will try a different author to go to.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I was given an advance reading copy (ARC) of this book by NetGalley.com in exchange for a fair review. I opted to read this book because I knew very little about fan dancer Sally Rand. Sally Rand's story started out in the Ozarks and the author continually reminded us of her 'hillbilly' beginnings. She traveled to Hollywood where she found some success in the world of silent film, but once talkies came into vogue, her movie career was over. According to the author, she had a twang and a lisp--neither of which came across well on the silver screen. In order to reinvent herself, she bought two oversized fans made of ostrich feathers and created a 'fan' dance. Rand made her mark at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair when she arrived on horseback Lady Godiva-style--an event that the author brought up over and over throughout the book. Rand's entire career revolved around this fan dancing. She supported her family (parents and an 'adopted' son), but barely stayed one step ahead of the bill collectors most of her life. After three failed marriages and multiple arrests for indecency, she continued to take her show on the road--even in her sixties. The last chapter in the book compared her to Mae West, but there were very little similarities there. Although I learned a few things about Sally Rand that I didn't know before, I would have to read another biography about her in order to really get a feel for the woman behind the feathers.

Sally Rand is a legend. She deserves a great book.

This is not that book. It is disorganized, repetitive, and poorly edited. The author describes Sally's eyes as blue at one point, green a few pages later. Describing the same period of time, he variously says Sally weighed 105 and 125 pounds. He says she danced with two ostrich "feathers," not two ostrich feather "fans."

Even for a book about a burlesque entertainer, there is jarringly frequent usage of the word "loins." (Six distinct references.)

I stopped reading at this point: "[S]he does come across as sweet and innocent and yet sexy. It is a strange combination, but that was what enticed audiences at the fair. She is a lot like your daughter or who you imagine your daughter to be."

Ick.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Roman & Littlefield for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.
Sally Rand (born Helen Gould) was a beautiful young girl who longed for stardom. With determination, she chose to leave her Ozark home and joined the carnival in search of fame and fortune. In her quest, she became an acrobatic performer for Ringling Brothers, performed in summer stock and was a silent film star for Cecil B. DeMille who changed her name to Sally Rand. Not possessing the best voice for the ‘talkies’, Sally became a dancer which would lead her to her most memorable performance at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. Her iconic image as a fan dancer celebrated the beauty of a woman’s body taking it out of strip clubs and the stages of Burlesque..
Sally lived a rags to riches to rags life. She had four husbands, several arrests for indecent exposure and many trials but she was a survivor who possessed strength, will and determination. Sally did not rely on others, only herself.
I am very grateful to Mr. Hazelgrove for giving Sally her due. His book is detailed, absorbing and a true testament to who Sally was. I think she would be quite proud. Well done!

A fascinating look at a woman I had not heard about before reading this book.
Interesting, sad and colourful.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

I was always familiar with the name Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer of the Chicago World's Fair of 1933 but the wonderful research done by Mr. Hazelgrove taught me so much more about the woman behind the feathers. She was a beautiful, petite girl from the Ozarks who ran away with the circus when she was just 15 to find fame and fortune. I'm sure in the early part of the 20th century many other girls did too, but Sally was different. She had ''chutzpah", a drive to succeed and she just knew in her heart that she would attain world fame. Her fan dance and entrance riding sidesaddle on a white horse as a sort of Lady Godiva at the Fair gave world weary depression era audiences the uplift and brief escapism into something lovely that they needed. (It also made a fortune for the city of Chicago). All the obsenity arrests etc. and fines came later on after the fair closed. Another thing Sally never did was depend on anyone else for her living. She, no matter how bad things later got depended on herself only and even supported her family who had in nowise helped her when she was young.. She was a woman ahead of her time and she was punished for sometimes but she is still fondly remembered.. I thank Net Galley and Rowman & Littlefield for allowing me the opportunity to get to know this fascinating woman.

This was an excellently documented , interesting, and researched biography. The story would make an excellent movie. Hope that happens! I knew Sally for about 15 weeks in 1959 when she was doing her show at a cabaret in Chicago while I was a student at Northwestern University. She was a truly nice person in so many ways. Her body was in excellent shape and that of course was aided by her full body stocking.