{"product_id":"the-queen-of-steeplechase-park-paperback","title":"The Queen of Steeplechase Park - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDavid Ciminello\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Queen of Steeplechase Park\u003c\/i\u003e is the absolutely, positively, practically, almost-true story of infamous burlesque queen and magic meatball maker Belladonna Marie Donato. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePregnant at fifteen after gleefully losing her virginity to pansexual neighborhood strongman Francis Anthony Mozzarelli, Bella is robbed of her baby by a pack of nefarious nuns and her embittered papa has her sterilized without her consent (legal in 1935). With the help of a besotted Francis, her newfound family of queercentric outcasts, and a top-secret meatball recipe, a devastated Bella embarks on a riotous quest through Depression-era Coney Island sideshows, the tawdry world of peekaboo striptease routines, a doomed mob marriage, and a tasty collection of wisdom-filled recipes to find her lost child, herself, and maybe even true love. It all leads Bella back home, to the scene of her original sin, where she boldly faces matters of life and death, questions of forgiveness, and a holy mess only the healing properties of great Italian cooking can fix.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eDavid Ciminello is a Lambda Literary Fellow and the proud recipient of a Table 4 Writers Foundation Grant. His fiction has appeared in the Lambda Award-winning anthology \u003ci\u003ePortland Queer: Tales of the Rose City\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNailed Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, and in fine artist Stephen O'Donnell's \u003ci\u003eThe Untold Gaze\u003c\/i\u003e. His original screenplay \u003ci\u003eBruno\u003c\/i\u003e, an Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting finalist, was made into a motion picture directed by Shirley MacLaine and stars Kathy Bates, Gary Sinese, and Jennifer Tilly. As an actor David has guest starred on \u003ci\u003eSeinfeld\u003c\/i\u003e (\"The Barber\"), \u003ci\u003eMurder She Wrote\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMatlock\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eKojak\u003c\/i\u003e. David and his husband, photographer and podcast artist Brian Delaney, reside in Portland, Oregon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 470\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.3 x 8.8 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 07, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51748938645792,"sku":"9781942436614","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/38faf3a4790badf1a163620e94e0197b.webp?v=1779920686","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-queen-of-steeplechase-park-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}