"A meticulously researched and yet entertainingly accessible biography of an unfortunately forgotten star, whose outlandish persona and passionate vocal style could be viewed as the template for every flamboyant female performer from Martha Raye to Bette Midler to Lady Gaga."
Paula Uruburu, author of American Eve:
"Readers will care about the 'I Don't Care Girl' after reading this fascinating account of the life of singer, actress, and vaudeville performer Eva Tanguay, little know today but a true eccentric who cultivated the outrageous cult of personality like a modern-day rock star well before such a thing existed in the popular culture."
"Erdman has captured the radiant essence of a woman from a bygone era—wholly of her time, yet curiously modern—and her complex personality jumps from the page. Combining detailed historical research with a deftly entertaining writing style, this book will be of interest to anyone in theater history, women in entertainment, and cultural history."
Sam Roberts:
"Erdman convincingly places Tanguay's stardom in historical perspective while still summoning the physicality that made her so popular in vaudeville (she was arrested in New York in 1909 for indecent dancing on a Sunday) but never quite translated to radio or movies."
Fiona Gruber:
"Queen of Vaudeville is a treasure house of material.... Erdman writes in this meticulously researched study of Tanguay and her times that at the zenith of vaudeville's popularity just before the First World War there were 5,000 music halls in the United States and 700,000 people attended shows every week in New York alone. Tanguay followed in a line of female performers who were pushing the boundaries of what was decent in a form of entertainment that had only recently become respectable enough for a middle-class, mixed-gender audience. Arrested for lewdness and frequently in the gossip columns, she enthralled both women and men, managing to combine energetic sexality with a mirthful wholesomeness."
David Williams:
"In his loving new biography of this long-forgotten celebrity, Andrew Erdman brings Tanguay back to life warmly.... You can almost feel the same electricity audiences of the early 20th century felt at just the mention of her name."
Kathleen M. Golden, Edinboro University, writer and director of Three Vaudeville Women: May Irwin, Marie Dressler, and Eva Tanguay:
"This biography is a thorough and important sequel to Andrew L. Erdman's Blue Vaudeville. It is both a skillful rendering of the life of Eva Tanguay and an incisive look at many of the key players whose lives intersected with Tanguay's during the rise of vaudeville. Erdman’s storytelling weaves in the historical grounding and context so valuable in a biography; I came away with a strong sense of Tanguay the person, including her quirks of impulse and her questionable choices in business and male associates. Queen of Vaudeville is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the entertainment industry."
Robert W. Snyder, Director of American Studies, Rutgers-Newark, and author of The Voice of the City: Vaudeville and Popular Culture in New York:
"Andrew L. Erdman's deep research and vivid prose bring to life the story of a woman who defined American popular culture and celebrity and then vanished from memory. He reveals the fascinating trajectory of Eva Tanguay's life—from Quebec to Massachusetts to Times Square—and persuasively establishes her enduring importance for understanding what it means to be a woman and a star in the twentieth century. I highly recommended this book for anyone who wants to understand the past and present of American popular culture."
Christine Femia:
"Andrew Erdman tells us that everyday life for Tanguay was filled with its own vaudevillian adventures, and shows it through wild anecdotes of her antics, like the time she defended her handler from thugs with a hatpin.... Featuring a likely illegitimate daughter, a gender-bending show-biz marriage, a dog's heart in a jar, violent relationships, and the phasing out of a successful performer's career as vaudeville receded along with her health, this biography is tremendous."
