English

Suzy King, the Pythoness of Modernity

The Brazilian Suzy King, whose real name is Georgina Pires Sampaio, but was also Diva Rios, Jacuí Japurá, and Jackie Bailey, is one of those larger-than-life people whose persona is undoubtedly more interesting than the person. She was a singer, exotic dancer, snake charmer, fakir, painter, dance teacher, and a writer of plays. In none of these activities was she outstanding for her talent or beauty. So why a book on her? Because Suzy was a prodigy in the art of self-promotion, as were her most successful contemporaries Elvira Pagã and Luz del Fuego. Each of her acts became a newspaper headline. She fights with the landlady of a rooming house. She fights with street women. She fights with the Censorship Service. Her snakes escape to the neighbors apartments. Her clothes are torn off by the mob during her Lady Godiva parade half-naked on horseback on Avenida Rio Branco. She is caught red-handed when she is a fakir trying to escape before the end of a public fast. A popular figure in the Brazilian press’ scandal columns and a veteran known to the Rio de Janeiro’s police stations. In 1966, she disappears from the stage. And resurfaces in Mexico as Jacuí, Queen of the Amazon. And then

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