Chorus girls: so scandalous and so fantastic. The costumes, the dancing, the glamour, the flirtation. Chorus girls are naughtier than ballerinas but primmer than strippers. From the Rockettes to Vegas showgirls to Moulin Rouge, “chorus girl” suggests striving for a fleeting “big break” and a future paved with glittering marquees and mink coats. I think – no, I know – it’s the striving that I find so captivating. That, and the feathers and sequins.
So imagine my total excitement when, thanks to flavorpill, I discovered Bookforum‘s booklists. Forget boring summer syllabi – these lists are cheeky and unexpected. For instance, they have a reading list devoted to the Chorus Girl. Be still my beating heart. While I am not a fan of all of the books on the list*, I applaud the novelty. Now I want to make my own booklists. One on fashion eccentrics (Simon Doonan, Diana Vreeland, Carmel Snow), one on depressed middle-aged men (Brooklyn Follies, Aloft), one on books that feature flowers, one on books with fabulous fashion, one or two on books influenced by fairy tales. . . .Oh! a whole list on books about artists. But only artists I like (or, in the case of fictional artists, imagine I could like) because gosh, nothing is more tiring than reading adoring prose about an artist whose work makes you roll your eyes or, worse, yawn.
I do love a list! My applause (and apologies) to Bookforum for such a great idea I can’t resist the temptation to be a copy-cat.
*I read Sister Carrie in college and hated it, but I think that might be more due to the professor than the book. She rotated the same 3 pairs of pants the entire semester, and as they were, in turn, blinding shades of orange, mustard, and teal, and rather tight at that, I found her class horribly dull in comparison. Particularly when she read from notecards for an entire 45 minutes. Dreiser never had a chance.)
