From the publisher’s description:
Robert Allen’s compelling book examines burlesque not only as popular entertainment but also as a complex and transforming cultural phenomenon. Locating burlesque within the context of both the social transformation of American theater and its patterns of gender representation, Allen concludes that burlesque represents a fascinating example of the potential transgressiveness of popular entertainment forms, as well as the strategies by which they have been contained and their threats defused.
George Freedley Memorial Award (1991)
Choice Outstanding Academic Title (1992)
Allen, Robert C. (NHC Fellow, 1986–87). Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture. Cultural Studies of the United States. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1991. ISBN 0807819603.