"Hello, Sucker!": The Story of Texas Guinan

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing treatment
Review: Spoiled by adeptly written biographies by Donald Spoto, David Stenn and Barry Paris, perhaps I am too easily disappointed by lesser-experienced authors. At just over 100 pages, this book took me less than an hour to read- it seemed more like a brochure than a biography.

Texas Guinan is a prime example of a perhaps-extinct breed of club owners who were showmen; ubiquitous at their venues, equipped with trademark sayings and attitudes that never seemed to wear thin. Throughout the 1920s she was famous for entertaining at nightclubs which she probably owned (but always testified that she didn't). Her clubs were repeatedly raided and she defiantly stood trial for distributing alcohol.

She also had several Broadway roles, touring company shows, and movie appearances, but presumably her hundreds of thousands were made on the speakeasy business.

Her life and personality seem interesting for sure, but this book doesn't venture to reveal or analyze her personality on the part of the author or any first-person accounts. It simply states one event after another with as much color and intrigue as a textbook.

It is a shame that the lesser figures in the history of entertainment rarely get the biographical treatment of the stars. Many interesting lives have fallen by the wayside or received an unredeeming treatment from second rate authors.