<![CDATA[Cease to Blush]]>

false <![CDATA[Cease to Blush]]>

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Billie Livingston’s fine second novel leads us to consider the nature of our hidden lives and desires — and to question whether the sky would really fall if we admitted our true needs and ceased to blush. As Cease to Blush opens, Vivian is late to her own mother’s funeral. Wearing a tight red suit, Vivian stands out like a pornographer’s dream amongst the West Coast intellectuals mourning the death of prominent feminist Josie Callwood. But for all of her bravado, Vivian finds herself emotionally numb and spiraling downward. Vivian and her mother were in constant conflict, with Josie disapproving of her daughter’s lifestyle; her inclination to use her body instead of her brain, and her so-called acting career, which has amounted to little more than playing prostitutes and the odd dead body. For her part Vivian has been invested in antagonizing her mother’s feminist ideology. As the story opens Vivian’s career, as well as her relationship with boyfriend Frank, is taking an unsavoury turn as she wades into the quick cash scheme of Internet porn with herself cast in the lead. But Josie has left a big surprise for her troubled daughter: a trunk full of mementoes from her own past, all of which point to a secret life more exotic than anything Vivian has been able to pull off. Puzzling together bits and pieces, Vivian learns that her mother was at one time a burlesque performer named Celia Dare who rubbed shoulders with the flashiest celebrities of the sixties. Vivian becomes determined to uncover the true story of her mother’s life. Chasing rumours, Vivian sets off down the Pacific coast and soon finds out that truth is a slippery snake. With only a few of her mother’s letters, some guarded anecdotes from Josie’s former confidant and a slew of books about the sixties, Vivian begins to re-create her mother’s life, placing her at the heart of some of the biggest events and scenes of the era. From the protests and beat coffeehouses of Haight-Ashbury to the frenzied nightlife of Rat Pack Vegas, from the political soirées of New York to mob meetings in glitzy Miami hotels, Celia Dare saw and did it all. Yet the glamour hid an ugly underbelly, and as Vivian peels away the layers of the past she begins to uncover her own emotional truths as well. Cease to Blush drives the bumpy road from the burlesque stages of Rat Pack Vegas to the bedroom Internet porn business, exploring just how far women have really come. In Vivian, Livingston has created the perfect character through which to explore what it means to be an independent woman today; with Celia/Josie, it’s clear that things weren’t so cut and dry in her day either. Though Celia’s story is told vividly here, its accuracy is impossible to gauge and the ghosts are not talking. But maybe this is Celia’s gift to Vivian: the ability of the past not only to illuminate the future, but to re-imagine it. From the Hardcover edition.

701538

2006

Cease to Blush

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5 1 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Aug 30 09:07:26 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 09:17:25 -0700 2007 I loved this book. It was funny, and insightful with a provocative bent that I've been considering since I came to the last page. The narrator is Vivian, not formally educated though natively intelligent, rebellious and generally angry actress who plays bit parts on tv shows. Her mother is Jos...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 24 13:47:21 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 13:28:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 15 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 15 21:50:07 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 21:55:22 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 21:41:35 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 21:49:20 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 15:56:17 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 09:24:12 -0800 2008
As a lover of Hollywood history, I really enjoyed this book and it...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 25 10:30:43 -0700 2007 Fri Feb 08 15:41:39 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jun 25 12:07:46 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 13 15:33:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 04 10:54:05 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 10:54:05 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 20 15:48:45 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 15:48:45 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 14:01:41 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 14:01:41 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Fri Sep 18 08:44:24 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 08:44:24 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Sep 16 09:18:57 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 09:18:57 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 19 18:19:54 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 18:19:54 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Aug 04 17:03:08 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 17:03:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 10 10:21:07 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 10:21:07 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Jul 10 04:21:50 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 04:21:50 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed May 27 16:53:46 -0700 2009 Wed May 27 16:53:46 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu May 21 19:44:21 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 19:44:21 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Sat May 16 06:46:18 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 06:46:18 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Feb 26 18:50:22 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 18:50:22 -0800 2009