Guiltily loving every minute of Karen Abbott's American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare, the Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee, hearsay or not, disconcerting shifts in time and voice or not. An amazing anecdote from early in the book (guess grit runs in the family!):
[Gypsy's] great-great-grandmother emigrated from Norway and set out for the West Coast in a covered wagon. She made it as far as the Sierra Nevada mountains when her party was stranded by a blizzard. Most of the party died, frozen or starved or devoured by wolves. Rescue workers whisked Grandma to the nearest settlement and undressed her, discovering what appeared to be horsemeat strapped around her body, hidden from the other survivors. She alone appeared plump and healthy. On closer inspection, the rescue team discovered that it wasn't horsemeat after all but rather the flesh of her less fortunate companions.