“The most comprehensive study on the era of burlesque.” —V Magazine

Training her journalist’s eye on the glitter and glamour of American burlesque’s Greatest Generation, Liz Goldwyn takes readers on an enthralling tour of the original queens of the striptease. Goldwyn’s incisive expose is a retrospective of the sights and spectacles of burlesque’s golden age—and an intimate look at the women whose sexuality, ambition, and verve brought the cabaret stage to life. Today, as burlesque enters a heady resurgence worldwide—with festivals around the globe, popular books like Burlesque Fetish and The Burlesque Handbook, and even a School of Burlesque in New York City—Pretty Things offers a unique and exciting look at its formative past and its earliest heroines.