Product Description
In She Always Knew How, her wonderful new biography of legendary actress Mae West, acclaimed biographer Charlotte Chandler draws on a series of interviews she conducted with the star just months before her death in 1980. From their first meeting, where West held out a diamond-covered hand in greeting and lamented her interviewer's lack of jewels, to their farewell, where the star was still gamely offering advice on how to attract men, Mae West and Charlotte Chandler developed a warm rapport that glows on every page of this biography.

Actress, playwright, screenwriter, and iconic sex symbol Mae West was born in New York in 1893. She created a scandal -- and a sensation -- on Broadway with her play Sex in 1926. Convicted of obscenity, she was sentenced to ten days in prison. She went to jail a convict and emerged a star. Her next play, Diamond Lil, was a smash, and she would play the role of Diamond Lil in different variations for virtually her entire film career.

In Hollywood she played opposite George Raft, Cary Grant (in one of his first starring roles), and W. C. Fields, among others. She was the number one box-office attraction during the 1930s and saved Paramount Studios from bankruptcy. Her films included some notorious one-liners -- which she wrote herself -- that have become part of Hollywood lore: from "too much of a good thing can be wonderful" to "When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better." Her risqué remarks got her banned from radio for a dozen years, but behind the clever quips was Mae's deep desire, decades before the word "feminism" was in the news, to see women treated equally with men. She saw through the double standard of the time that permitted men to do things that women would be ruined for doing.

Her cause was sexual equality, and she was shrewd enough to know that it was perhaps the ultimate battleground, the most difficult cause of all. In addition to her extensive interviews of Mae West, Chandler also spoke with actors and directors who worked with and knew the star, the man with whom she lived for the last twenty-seven years of her life, as well as her closest assistant at the end of her life. Their comments and insights enrich this fascinating book. She Always Knew How captures the voice and spirit of this unique actress as no other biography ever has. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

The PRIVATE, CONTEMPLATIVE Mae West.....
Charlotte Chandler, the author of this book, does NOT write Biographies......
Why do I say that?
After having read her "biographies" of Mae West, Joan Crawford, and bits of her book on Bette Davis, you realize that these are basically TRANSCRIPTS-----and little more.....
If we place trust on the work of Ms. Chandler, and relax and leave aside the critique of how informative or revelatory her book will be, you will be left with (most surely (heavily?) edited) words of the person being quoted throughout. In a sense, these are "oral histories".....
Why Ms. Chandler waited THIRTY YEARS after the death of Miss West to publish this book, as well as the book on Crawford is a question that perplexes and makes you wonder.
HOWEVER......
For EVERYONE who has heard the "Come up and see me....." ad nauseum, these transcripts prove tremendously REVELATORY....
Interviewed (and perhaps that's not the word,since it appears that Miss West simply talks endlessly, with very little interruption from the author) perhaps a year before her death in 1980, I came across a woman that I never had known---and that most of the world DOES NOT KNOW either......
The person expressing herself in this book is PROFOUNDLY EMPATHETIC, enormously GENEROUS, devoted to her family in the most tender of ways, a deeply spiritual woman who is the antithesis of the rapacious, cartoonish buffoon that the world knows, and one who's heart was tender, forgiving, loving, gracious------in short, the very essence of a LADY that for so many she never could have been....
If you loved your mother greatly, Mae West's story on the relationship between her and her mother to the very moment of the old lady's death (just as Mae was reaching Hollywood) will bring you to tears.... The DEVOTION and profound love they had for each other was the most extraordinary of bonds, and to hear Mae talk about the loss brings ALL FACADES to an end....
This book illuminates (or should we say: Mae DOES!) this star's life like no other..... Her musings on Elvis, on black people, Homosexuals, her devotion for the two main "husbands" of her life expand on this to provide us a portrait of a woman exquisitely AHEAD of her time, greatly intelligent, but primarily the SHOCK upon realizing that all that self-absorption and narcissism had another side which was filled with love and devotion for many......
I thank Ms. Chandler for having brought all this unto the light and have us fans be able to completely HUMANIZE a figure as important to 20th. Century history as there ever was in Hollywood-----a complex individual, filled with BEAUTY, in great measure, WITHIN.

Not really a book, just a long interview
I must admit up front, I'm not a huge fan of Charlotte Chandlers, but I keep giving her chance after chance because of her first-person access to many of her subjects.

There is no doubt Mae West was one of Hollywood's most colorful personalities, not only as the very definition of "movie star" in the 1930s, but also the well-documented fact that off-screen, she was a rather shy and not at all a Hollywood player, preferring to keep to herself and a small group of friends.

Excellent biographies have come out in the past few years of West, going into stunning detail on the first forty years of her life, all pre-Hollywood, when she wrote, starred, directed and produced plays.They have honed in on the vast intelligence this woman possessed, made even more remarkable by the fact that she knew exactly how to use it for maximum public exposure.

However, Chandler takes the easy way out.She interviewed Mae West extensively just prior to her death in 1980 and has taken almost 30 years to publish it in book form.I'm not sure why, since all "She Always Knew How" is basically the text of the interviews.Pages go by without so much as an interpolation by the author.Granted, West was still sizzling and a first-person account is always fun, but Mae West was also known for dragging out the same tall tales for interviewers.There's nothing here that gives us anything new, except some details about West's actual demise.

Brief plot summaries of West's movies are noticeably bad, making them seem unbearably stupid.Plot-wise the 30s movies were not brilliant, but it was the lines and the chances.That all goes by unnoticed. Instead, we get West waxing rhapsodic about everything (especially herself) and Chandler seeminly never asking a more probing question.Even West's well-documented feuding with W.C. Fields is made to seem like a love-fest here.

Mae West deserves (and has gotten) far better book treatment.Skip this one and go for the others!

Window into a soul...
This by far is the most indept,insightful and well written biography I have read about Mae West.I've read practically every book written about this woman. This book gave a personal look into who she was an how she became 'Mae West'.This is a woman who was born into 'her time', 'place' and knew how to market her image without compromising her character...
Mae knew how to let you 'come up with the meaning' of the words she spoke....

Full of Factual Errors & Pedestrian Writing
I'm researching Mae West's play The Drag, and within 5 pages devoted to this subject there are about five errors. Chandler apparently hadn't read the play herself or hadn't read it recently when she wrote her synopsis. This doesn't haven't to be a major fault. Who doesn't like good fiction? But the writing here lacks inspiration. It comes off ashackish.

1) Dr. Richmond and Judge Kingsbury aren't brothers-in-law, otherwise their children would be first cousins and couldn't marry.
2) Clair tells her friend Marion about her sex problems, not her Aunt Barbara.
And so forth.

I liked this biography
Mae West was one of the most interesting women of the early- to mid-twentieth century. She knew what she wanted, and in a world dominated by men, she knew how to get it. This biography, written by veteran biographer Lyn Erhard, under the pen name of Charlotte Chandler, is an interesting view of Ms. West, having more of the feel of an autobiography. The author crams the book full of quotes from the great lady, making you feel like you are hearing her tell her life story to you face-to-face.

So, as you can tell, I liked this biography. Like, I said, in many ways it is like an autobiography, in that it tells Mae's story from her (no doubt biased) viewpoint, rather than attempting to be an expose or hard-hitting investigation. I like Mae West, and I really liked the way the book truly feels like her. Is it the best biography of Mae West, no, not really. But, is it a great book on Mae West, a hard-to-put-down read? Oh yeah!

(Review of She Always Knew How: Mae West, a Personal Biography) ... Read more

Product Description
Mae West, wise-cracking vaudeville performer, was one of the most controversial figures of her era. Rarely, however, do people think of Mae West as a writer. In Three Plays By Mae West, Lillian Schlissel brings this underexplored part of West's career to the fore by offering for the first time in book form, three of the plays West wrote in the 1920s--Sex (1926), The Drag (1927) and Pleasure Man (1928). With an insightful introduction by Schlissel, this book offers a unique look into to the life and early career of this legendary stage and screen actress. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unapologetically Undiluted Mae West
When Lillian Schissel edited "Three Plays by Mae West,' published in 1997, itmarked the first time Sex, The Drag and The Pleasure Man had ever been printed.Long thought to be lost, the original manuscriptsgathered dust at the Library of Congress.After prolonged legal wrangling with the Roger Richman Agency of Los Angeles, whoat the time represented the Mae Westreceivership estate, a deal was finally struck to have the plays finally published.
Schissel argues that West provided one of the first role models for women suggesting they could be independent and achieve success following through on their own ambitions.
When a revival of Sex was mounted in Seattle in 1998, a review noted, "What dates this show more than all the quaint wink-and nod lewdness are a couple of incredibly racist lines that I'm glad they didn't cut.At one point, Margy LaMont tells a guy there's no way he could get himself a woman, at least not a white women. Later a character tells Margy that she could make good money whoring in Trinidad "'cause all the girls down there are half black."
Times have changed when this shocks us more than humping. Even a couple of archaic racial slurs are left in, the only real shock here isthat a 1927 audience wouldn't have even blinked.
The strength of Schissel's work is the research she uncovered in the case for the prosecution against Mae West in legal documents relating to the staging of Sex and The PleasureMan.The testimoney presented during the court proceedings is fascinating to read and sheds light on the rampant homophobia at the time.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Schlissel's sleuthing is that excerpts from West's obscenity trial and disturbingly the censor's accusations sound as troubling today as they did 80 years ago.The arguments used 80 years ago to ban Mae West's bon mots are not unlike those used today to bar gay and lesbian artists from public funding and public self-expression.
Highly recommended!
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (11)

not worth the long read
This is a very badly-written cut-and-paste book.Long quotes from newspapers abound and ultimately weigh it down.There was apparently no proofreader.Spelling errors are too numerous."Neeeded"? One woman is called a "confidante," while another woman is a "confidant." He doesn't know whether the past tense of "slink" is "slinked" or "slunk," so he uses both.

After the 422 pages of the main text, I still didn't feel as if the author had given us the secrets of what made this extraordinary woman click.It's as if an entire layer of her personality is still missing, perhaps because there were no newspaper articles he could quote about it.

The best part of the book is about how vaudeville worked in its early days, and its difference from burlesque.I was hoping for a similar exploration of early sound film, but this book just doesn't have it. There are some good archival pictures. The worst part is the prolonged quoting of each objection of the Code Office to what they read in the proposed scripts for West's movies.Reading one list was enough to get the point across; there is no need to print so many of them.

Interesting biography
I didn't know too much about Mae West until I read this biography. I enjoyed reading it, but it does focus more on her public life and the plays and movies she was in rather than giving details about her personal life.Since I was unfamiliar with her work, I found the book to be informative and entertaining. However, if you are trying to delve deeper into her personal life then this book may not be the right one for you.

Not the best one out there.
This book covers a great deal of the years up to her Hollywood days.
However, the author spent too much of the book on this and left out the personality of Ms West.

Self Creator
In the days of vaudeville and burlesque, people created performing persona's for themselves that came to identify them so strongly, that it became their entire character.Charlie Chaplin was the Tramp.WC Fields was the befuddled hustler.Buster Keaton was the acrobatic Stone Face.

Mae West created herself as a sex goddess, and it came to identify her throughout her life.She lived it so strongly, that it overtook her entire being, for better and for worse.

Simon Louvish points this out, and does a solid job of getting into Ms. West's intentions, her performing highlights, and what little he can dig up of her personal life.

She was a highly intelligent woman of great inner strength, huge ego, and a predilection for self-promotion we can now compare to Madonna.The only difference being that Mae West never re-created herself.She just continued to build the myth and the creation.

Mae West was in some ways an enigma, but in others very transparent.A hugely successful woman, a shrewd investor, a lively personality.Louvish captures her in her entirety pretty well.

A Fan
Like just about everything that has to do with Mae West.Nothing new here other than her actual plays being highlighted, reviewed so to speak.Risque in her day and a fascinating personality.Her dedication to herself and herself only was amazing, though it would seem lonely to me to dote on myself ALL the time. ... Read more

Product Description

From the day she was born, Hannah Mae O'Hannigan has dreamed of being the root-tootinest cowgirl ever. Too bad for Hannah Mae, she lives smack-dab in the middle of a city.

But Hannah Mae's Uncle Coot lives way out West, and Hannah Mae is sure-as-sunshine determined to make it to his ranch. So with the help of her parents, Hannah Mae trains for the life of a rodeo star. She practices her horse ridin' with Sassafras -- a sweet pony from the pony-ride in the park. Her stuffed animals are perfect for ropin' practice, and she masters cow herdin' by rounding up a bunch of pet-store hamsters.

Finally Hannah Mae is ready to lasso her destiny. But when she gets to Uncle Coot's ranch, she is given only ranch-hand chores. Thanks to a mysterious herd on the horizon, Hannah Mae learns that with some quick thinkin' and some sure ridin', she can be the cowgirl who saves the day (and the frontier)! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

"Yeeeha" Cowgirl power for pint-sized readers.
This is a fun, cute tale of a pint-sized cowgirl and her equally tiny pony who just happen to save the day on a real Western ranch. The story is set in the days of the railroad and telegram but any contemporary girl (or boy) would find it entertaining as well. It mixes reality (real ranch skills) with fantasy (well, just wait till you see how she saves the day!). All along, Hannah Mae shows remarkable pluck, determination and bravery. Her relationships with adults (mother, father and uncle) are all presented as warm and affectionate. The drawings are very modern in style and skillfully but playfully rendered. My young girls love this and one has taken to cheering, "yee-ha!".

Hannah Mae O'Hannigan's Wild West Show
This delightful tale will keep you child entertained--for the first, second, third and fourth readings.

Hannah Mae O'Hannigan's Wild West Show
This book is wonderful!It's ideal for children of all ages that dream of being cowboys or cowgirls.My 7, 5 and 4 yo love this book.A delight to read aloud.It is packed full with humorous pages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Common Sense Advice Never Goes Out Of Style
Riding on the coattails of renewed interest in her career, in large part due to her comeback role in Myra Breckinridge, a manuscript entitled "Mae WestOn Sex, Health & ESP,"was prepared for publication. In October of 1975, Connie Schrader of Harcourt, Bruce, Jovanovich Inc. Publishers wrote to Stanley Musgrove, her agent, to ask "would Miss West consider changing the focus of her manuscript 'Health, Sex & ESP' to 'Mae West on Meditation, Health and Sex?' " As well, Schrader inquired if West would consider reorganizing the material and delete the section on her biography written by David Ray Johnson.
Schrader suggested, "the book might best be by Mae Westalone.Could she add some of her own formulas for living? The memo also inquired if Canadian rights were available and if West would be willing to undertake a tour to promote the book."In a second memo to Musgrove dated two days later, Schrader informedhim, "Boo-hoo! I love it.But it isn't right for us."
Unable to find an American publisher for her largely ghosted manuscript,Westbroadened her search and W.H. Allen in Englandeventually secured the rights.
Some of West's detractors had taken her comments on homosexuality out of contextand narrowed their focus attacking her views expressed in the late 1920's.In a chapter entitled "The Third Sex," West put a more positive spin on her thoughts concerning gays in order tobring her line of thinking up to date with the liberal attitude of the day.
David Ray Johnson's essay,"An Historical And Interpretive Analysis Of The Development And Perpetuation Of The Mae West Phenomenon On Stage And Screen 1900 - 1970" formed a 72 pageappendix to the book, and partially fullfilled the requirements for his masters of Arts Degree from Bowling Green State University in 1971.
Johnson sent West a copy of his thesis, and she was so flattered, he was invited to visit her as a guest at her Santa Monica beach house.Johnson arrived in Los Angeles, found work at Universial Studio as a tour guide and continued to live rent free at the beach house.
In my manuscript, "In Search of Mae West" which I am currently seeking a publisher, I outline the bizarre circumstances of thetragic demise of David Ray Johnson.Although Westwas indirectly connected to the sordid affair, she was anxious to keep her name out of the newspapers, and ensured that Johnson's body was returned to his family inChicago.
Although Sex Health & ESP wasnot a best seller,West's sage advice shines through, and her observations on eating well, loving yourself and your partner, as well as being in touch with your inner self are still relevant today.

RARE stuff
This book reveals West's beauty secrets and health regimens. A MUST for real Mae West collectors and is WAY out of print, and was never even released in the U.S.!It is ghost written, but very good. The ESP parts are fascinating. ... Read more

Product Description
In terms of celebrity icons, few attained the highest levels of fame and controversy as rapidly as Mae West. Labeled a "pornographer" by censorship boards, she was also one of 1930s Hollywood's most lucrative box-office draws (causing "Variety" in 1933 to label the star "as hot an issue as Hitler"). Nicknamed by critic George Jean Nathan "the Statue of Libido" and paid homage to in the title song of Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes, her voluptuous image and signature platinum blond air became recognizable worldwide and for decades beyond her prime years of fame in the 1930s. In fact, even by the 1960s when the Beatles wanted to use her image on the cover of their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, those long-haired icons of a new generation were required to deliver a handwritten plea to the icon (which they dutifully did), since West herself always objected, as she said, to belonging to any "lonely hearts club."In the "Movie Icon Series", people talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, "Taschen" shows you."Movie Icons" is a series of photo books that feature the most famous personalities in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life.More bang for your buck! "...a fast-food, high-energy fix on the topic at hand." - "The New York Times Book Review". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A must have for the Mae West fan.
A perfectly descriptive account of the film career of Mae West filled with many delightful pictures. A must have for any film buff or fan of Mae West.

Mae West: The Original Sex And The City Icon
Decades before Candace Bushnell conceivedSex And The City, Mae West was experiencing the lifestyle loud and proud.West's Broadway play, "SEX" which premiered in 1926,was so far ahead of its time, she had tosoften the blow of its content and make it safe for mass consumption by placing the setting in the Bowery of the 1890's complete with period piece costumes.West's vision of SEX was not an escape into the fantasy of the past, but a journey into the possibilities of the future.
Taschen's latestaddition to their Movie Icons series, Mae West,is depicted in a stunning collection of mostly black and white stills from her films and stage productions, many never published before, wearing gownsdesigned byTravis Banton, Schiaparelli, WalterPlunkett, and Edith Head. A pleasant surprise is the inclusion of several rare advertisementsthat Paramount and Columbia Pictures utilized in promoting these films at the time of their original release.
The only disappointment is the rather weak commentary.In an attempt to appeal to three different markets, Taschen has printed the accompanying text in English, German and French, leaving a lot to be desired.However, the superior production values andlow price make this volume a must have for West aficionados.

Very Impressive!
As a Mae West collector of almost 3 decades, I can be quite the skeptic when it comes to new Mae West items. This book just arrived in the mail and I was instantly impressed with the quality. They have clearly produced the rare color photos within, from original transparencies or had them beautifully color corrected! There are also many rare behind-the-scenes photos I have never seen before. Most of the book contains black and white photos, all very fine quality. It is mainly photos and what little text there is, is usually WAY off in terms of correct information, indicating very little research (probably an hour online one night!).There is no new insight, but this particular book is not really for that purpose, as it is part of a larger series of "icons" of which Mae West certainly is. This book is for the adoring Mae West fan or someone who is collecting the whole 'Icon' series from this company.I know my friends will love it! ... Read more

Product Description
Autobiography of Mae West.With black and white photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Double Entendre Had Everything To Do With It
Mae West considered writing her autobiography as early as 1957 and several publishing houses had already approached her. A flood in the mid-thirties destroyed documents of her early vaudeville appearances stored in the basement of her Hollywood apartment building, The Ravenswood, and other papers stored at her ranch house were eaten by rats.
Since arriving in Hollywood, her film career had been well-documented, but West had only a faint recollection of what happened and where. She asked Larry lee, who assisted her with the novelization of "Diamond Lil" to research her early stage career. Lee suggested they try writing a few chapters to see how things went. Eventually Stephen Longstreet, an author who ghosted other star biographies came on board to help West pull together her book, and was given credit for his "editorial assistance." West apparently supervised everything and pointed out, "Nobody can write about me except me," a remarkable feat considering she barely completed the third grade.
The driving force in West's decision to pen her memoirs was that someone else might try to write an unauthorized account of her life and there wasn't much she could do about it since much of her life had been spent in the public domain. Initially West protested that she had so much more to do with her life, but friends pointed out she could write a sequel in the future. Some of the the early working titles West had in mind for her memoirs were "Queen of Sex," and "Come Up and See Me Sometime."
Although West's autobiography went through several printings in hardback and soft cover, critic's reaction to her account of her life was mixed. Theatre Arts stated "the heart of gold is outweighed by the purse of gold and the gloating over box-office grosses," while the New York Times reviewer found West's tome "theatre wise, basically clean, sometimes corny, often entertaining yarn."
Perhaps Mae West's self penned novel, "Babe Gordon," published in 1930 and later rechristened, "The Constant Sinner," was closer to the actual events of her life, that she dared not reveal in her later biography. The inside panel of the original cover proclaimed, "Constantly sinning and constant to her sin, Babe Gordon, the heroine of this vigorous story belongs to that rare type of woman who uses her beauty and sexual allure as a soldier uses his weapons - without mercy or scruple. She is irresistible to every type of man, from the bruisers of the prize ring to the sensitive sons of aristocracy. She is canny, worldly wise, quick thinking. All her art , her wisdom, her will is to love; and when her passion for one man cools, she kindles it in another.
In a classic example of life imitating art, Mae West was outraged when Confidential magazine featured an expose on her private life alleging her sexual proclivity for black men. Chalky Wright, "a bronze boxer" whom West had met was "invited up to see her sometime" and ended up living with her for a year. Confidential magazine claimed "West's favorite color combination, as only the men in her life know, is black and white."
As a result of Mae West's appearance in Myra Breckinridge in 1970, interest in her was at an all-time high, and MacFadden-Bartell published an updated edition of her biography in paperback.
West asked George Eiferman, a former 1948 Mr. America, and 1962 Mr. Universe title holder, to write an eight page appendix entitled "My Story," explaining the events that led to Chuck Krauser aka Paul Novak knocking out Mickey Hargitay. West sagely secured affidavits from the other bodybuilders in the act supporting her statement that she had never shown romantic interest in Hargitay. When asked why it would possibly matter years after the fact, West pointed out, "That's where you're not thinkin' clear. It's when he gets desperate that he'll try to peddle a story, '"I was the One Man Mae West Wanted but Couldn't Get."
West's prophesy was realized when Gordon Mitchell, one of the muscleman in her Vegas act was quoted in the July 2001 issue of Premier : "Mickey won't tell you this but I will. Mae was crazy about him! He was the first guy who ever rejected her." Other chapters in West's updated memoirs dealt with the filming of Myra Breckinridge and outlined plans for future projects.
For the serious student of Mae West lore, "Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It" is an excellant starting off point to discover why Mae West can be considered the most fascinating woman of the Twentieth Century.

A fascinating read
Mae West (1893-1980) was well known in her day as a leading sex symbol. But, she was more than a pretty face and a set of wild curves. Ms. West had a mind of her own, and a great deal of talent - she was an actress, a playwright and a screenwriter. Her on-screen personae featured a great deal of double entendre, and she considered discussing human sexuality to be a basic human right. In 1959, she published her autobiography, which was designed to tell her story, from her angle, and this is it!

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating read. Mae West was a fascinating woman, and led life the way she wanted to. Now, whenever any writes an autobiography, it is so that they can put their own spin on things, presenting themselves as they want to be presented. Well, that's the fun of an autobiography, and I must say that Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It is a lot of fun.

Plus, I must say that I loved her particular take on Broadway and Hollywood. So, if you are interested in that golden Ms. West (diamond would be closer to the truth), then this is the book for you. Also, if you are interested in early 20th century Broadway or early Hollywood, then this is also a book that you should read. I give it two thumbs up!

Self-Aggrandizing, but Unapologetic and Thoroughly Entertaining.
"Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" takes its title from a line in Mae West's first film, 1932's "Night After Night". By 1959, when the first edition of this autobiography was published, Mae West had conquered stage, screen, and Las Vegas and not lost a bit of sassy style in her 66 years. "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" is an unabashedly self-aggrandizing tour of Mae West's professional life and loves, but it's nothing if not entertaining. The story begins with a self-possessed -if not self-obsessed- child from Brooklyn who made her stage debut at age 7 -barely, since she refused to go on stage until the spotlight was on her. Mae turned professional at age 8, debuted on Broadway at 18, caused a sensation soon thereafter with her wriggle, began to write her own plays in the 1920s, was jailed for "corrupting the morals of youth" soon after, followed with films in the 1930s, a return to the stage in the 1940s, and Las Vegas night clubs in the 1950s.

"Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" focuses more on the conception of West's plays and movies than on other aspects of her life. This might be explained by West's passion for her career above all else, but she never did like to discuss her personal life. West believed that personal confessions amounted to overexposure and undermined her value as an entertainer. That may have been true when she was a huge star, but a candid autobiography could do her nothing but good in 1959. Mae West spent a lifetime creating and reinforcing a persona, though, so that's what she does here. She speaks fondly of the men in her life, but without many intimate details. Ironically, Mae West eschewed vulgarity, always preferring insinuation. But that sometimes left me wondering if she was a libertine or a tease. And surely her ego and inflexible nature frustrated a few of her lovers, whom West would have us believe all worshipped her unfailingly. I'm not sure how literally to take "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It", but Mae West always did put on a great show, and this book is no exception. Her fans won't want to miss it.

What a Woman!What a Star!What an Ego!
Originally written in the 1950s and later updated in the early 1970s, GOODNESS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT is the autobiography of the celebrated Mae West, one of the 20th century's greatest stars of stage and screen.It is an entertaining read, and in her writings West perfectly captures that unique tone and way with words that made her world famous.

But whether she intended it to be so or not, the most interesting thing about the autobiography is its revelation of the incredible ego that drove her.To hear her tell it, West was born with absolute self-awareness, knew what she wanted from the cradle, and was well on her way to getting it before she could walk.Be it saving the life of a drowning child, doing a lion-taming act, or living out the life of sex goddess to end all sex goddesses, Mae West did it first--and if not first, at least better.And if either of those are a matter of opinion, there is clearly only one opinion that counts with West: hers.

Sometimes she is factually inaccurate, as in her assesment of the box office success of MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (it was not a big hit at the time.)Sometimes she simply ignores an unpleasant fact or two, as when she declares that her film work ended because no one could offer her a good script (in truth, her screen career ended because public taste had changed and her films simply weren't living up to box office expectations any more.)But the truly astonishing thing about her various claims is how often they really are correct: yes, she really did save Paramount from bankruptcy; yes, she really was the highest-paid star in 1930s Hollywood; yes, her stage work was every bit as legendary as she says it was.

If West's autobiography often comes off as boastful, it has reason to be so; even so, the tone of unending self-praise does have a way of wearing a bit thin after a while, and now and then a little humility would not have been amiss.And if you're expecting a litany of lovers and bedroom details, you will no doubt be disappointed in the book.West gives few details and names no names.

Even so, it is a fascinating--or should I say fascinatin'--read.It was a indeed a brilliant career, a remarkable life, a memorable personality.If you're a fan, this is a must have.

--GFT (Amazon.com Reviewer)--

A classic by now
Though sugar coated and boastful, it covers a great deal with photos only she could/would provide. A must for any serious Mae West collector, especially if you can get it with it's original cover. ... Read more

Product Description
First time in paperback: A dazzling biography of one of our most flamboyant stars and "a truly mighty woman"
-Boston Globe

Emily Worth Leider combines newly uncovered archival material, fine writing, and a rich appreciation of West's unique blend of comedy and "come-hither" appeal to shape this enormously engrossing biography and portrait of an era. She gives us not just Mae West the bawdy icon, but also the driven performer who honed her act on the vaudeville circuit, wrote her own material to get a decent part, and never stopped battling the censors-who provided some of her best publicity but who eventually struck a blow for prudery from which her career would never recover.

"Leider meticulously re-creates the world that created West, a world she bent to her own ambitions....Mae's sashay across the screen will henceforth seem as much an achievement as it has always seemed a delicious inevitability."
-Steven Bach, author of Marlene DietrichAmazon.com Review
She was the Madonna of her time, parlaying a modest talentinto international celebrity with a carefully cultivated, outsizedpersonality and an unerring instinct for just how outrageous to bewithout alienating her audience. Mae West (1893-1980) crafted thepersona that made her the biggest movie star of the early 1930s duringher vaudeville and Broadway apprenticeship. Those formative years arethe subject of this absorbing cultural biography, which closes in 1938when Paramount dropped her contract. A generous sampling of Westone-liners adds sparkle to the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Becoming Mae West Revisited.
During the eleven years that have elapsed since Emily Wortis Leider's Becoming Mae West was published, three full biographies and a serious examination of West's early dramatic output have appeared. Leiderhit the nail on the head when in her final analysis of West's impact on popular culture,shestated"Mae West continues to stop traffic at the risky intersection of Vamp and Camp."
Despite the fact thatin the ensuing years biographers have been able to access West's papers donated to the Margaret Herrick Library in Los Angeles, and improved access to information due to the digital revolution, Leider's examination of the life and times of Mae West still stands head and shoulders above the recent crop.
Perhaps the key to Leider's success in bringing West to life is the attention to detail in describing the context of her initial successes and failures. Painting word pictures of Broadway and Hollywoodoffers the reader a perfect time frame to delve into the triumphs and roadblocks that West faced and ultimately helped her hone the Diamond Lil persona to perfection.
The one consistent shortcoming of Mae West biographers is the lack of light shone on the last two decades of her life. To this reviewer, it was the pop priestess of camp's reinvention and refusal to be left behind in the dust thatmakes the final chapter of the Mae West story so fascinating.Beefing up this aspect of West's legacy would greatly enhance this biography.
In light of the current hoopla surrounding the most recent examination of West's life,Leider's scholarly research becomes much more relevant and deserves to be reprinted in an updated edition.

Boring portrayal of an exciting woman
Way too much attention to "social history" and "cultural commentary" and not enough information on Mae West.It was if the author felt she had to use every bit of historical background she had found - little of which served to move the book forward.I did not feel I got to know Mae West nearly as well as I did the times she was living in - which was not what I wanted from a Mae West biography.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzz
I love Mae West but this book bombed.It is informative but so much that it's boring.I never finished it.It has some great photos and if you're doing a term paper on her it's wonderful.

One of the best of recent years
This book is one of the most well researched of any Mae West bios in recent years. GREAT photos, and fascinating reading, it uncovers things even the most die-hard fans of Mae West wouldn't know! It delves into the phyche and influences that went into creating Mae West as we came to know her. A highly recommended book.

Barely scratches the surface..
This book gives a sketchy account of her childhood and dwells on the characters she played rather than who she was.I would have preferred more insight to her personal life since that is what made Mae West sointeresting.

An easy book to put down. ... Read more

Product Description
Why don't you come up and see me sometime? Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations.Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor.But who was this saucy starlet, a woman who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend? Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars.Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender.Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and ""signifying,"" West also may have hinted at her own African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white. This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Excellent Research and Good Writing
As a veteran professor of English at a major East Coast University, I've read many biographies -- literary and otherwise. I also have been a Mae West fan since I was in my early teens. When I purchased Professor Watts' Mae West bio (and that was as soon as it was available in hardcover), I could not help but be impressed by her scholarship and meticulousness in research. Her writing is accessible to the average well-educated reader, and that's important. It's too easy for us scholars to "preach to the choir" in our writing and end up having no audience except our fellow PhDs! Back when I taught the required Writing Workshop sequence at NYU, I'd begin speaking to my students about the value of keeping journals by writing on the board: "Keep a diary and someday it'll keep you. -- Mae West, American writer, educator, actress and playwright." I think I remembered that quote correctly; it's one of Peaches O'Day's lines in "Every Day's a Holiday."Great way to introduce students to a practice that not only is self-therapeutic, but improves their writing skills with our without teacher participation. As for the strident criticism of Professor Watts' allegedly claiming that her research indicates Mae West might have had a black (or mixed raced) grandfather, I suggest those critics read that section very carefully and critically themselves. The author doesn't make any such claim. There was a comment that this book is "tediously written." While that's not exactly a term we use in Lit Crit, it does suggest that the writer isn't accustomed to reading books written for literate adults. Any high school graduate should be able to read and understand Professor Watt's biography with no difficulty other than needing to slow down for fuller comprehension. I find it particularly gratifying that Mae receives appropriate credit for her accomplishments as a playwright. I have read a collection of her plays (Sex," "Pleasure Man" and "The Drag") and I'm impressed given Mae's erratic grammar school attendance and her having to learn how to read and write to function in the world of vaudeville essentially on her own. Are these great plays? Absolutely not, but they show a playwright trying to find her voice and relying on the improv skills of veteran vaudevillians and drag queens to flesh out their characters.

Fascinating history and analysis
First, two responses to several reviews...

1 - The reviewers who suggest that this book is all about proving that West was black have simply not read the book.Watts introduces the book with that rumor (and the rumor that she was a man)...and then MOVES ON.She's off that subject by the middle of the second page.

2 - This is an academic book, written by a history professor. It is not a fan-oriented biography about West. If you want a quick and easy read, this is NOT the book for you.Watts' writing style makes the book accessible to people who aren't scholars, but if you aren't comfortable with footnotes or references to literary and cultural theory, you may want to choose a different book.

On to my own review:

This is an impressive piece of scholarship.The amount of archival research done for this project is impressive.Watts does a fine job of showing how West's work and image were very much shaped by working-class, black, gay, and feminist ideals and cultural forms. What we want to see as wholly her self-creation (including her trademark line "Come up and see me sometime!") was absolutely informed by what she saw around her.

My only criticism (and hence, the 4 stars) is that I think Watts' analysis of West's appropriation of black culture is too generous. Watts does a grand job of talking about white performers who didn't think much about their consumption and those who just plain 'stole.' However, Watts works really hard to show that West was not one of them; I'm not so sure.

PC slant backfires
The book itself is tediously written, as others have stated already, but the politically correct issue of "did she have negro blood" backfires. It's incredibly racist to assume that a white woman could not be sexual in an earthy way and love rhythm & blues unless she had negro blood. That falls under the category of "all blacks are good dancers" and "all whites are uptight" and other such nonsense. The argument of "What's so wrong if she's a little black?" can easily be countered with "What's so wrong if she's all white?" Mae West did not fit the stereotype of a white woman of her era, so people are trying to find some small trace of "something" which can justify cramming her into a comfortable stereotype. She was sensual and bawdy, well then, she must be black because God Forbid a genuine white woman behave that way. She made people uncomfortable back then and she's making people uncomfortable now. Mae West is an original and she's still stirring up controversy, which I'm sure she'd be delighted about. But if you want a good book about her, read Simon Louvish's book instead.

Mae WestAsTechnicolorGoddess
In her biography of Mae West, "An Icon in Black And White, Ms Watts makes a valiantattempt to connectWest's appropriation of African American idioms to her possible black roots.While Ms Watts may be on shaky ground, there is no disputing the fact thatMae West borrowed liberally from Black culture in creating her unique persona.
West's personal life mirrored her respect for African Americans and she evidently enjoyed the company of people from a broad range of cultural and sexual backgrounds as friends and associates.Unfortunately, Ms Watts examination of West often comes across as a university text book, which it appears to be.
During the past ten years, I have been researching aribald biography on the 'stimulatin' but nevah irritatin'' Miss West entitled SAINT MAE: OUR LADY OF HIPS & QUIPS, and I am presently seeking a publisher. While extensivelyinterviewing the men involved in her life,a previously hidden side of Mae's personality is unmasked and she comes alive through their stories. Her tough vixen image was considerably softened in the company of the friends she held in high esteem. Surprisingly, Miss West was more comfortable socializing with colorful, offbeat characters than the Hollywood crowd.
Ms Watts' examination of Mae West proves to be an entertaining read.One thought to ponder, although Mae West once appeared on the vaudeville stage as a man, she was sensitive enough never to appear in blackface and undo thebehind the scene assistance she gave her fellow African American coharts.

YES,ANICON!
When you tell the truth, people will be angry.Yes it is true that there is no real proof about Mae West, but I have had people insist that I had caucasian blood in my family tree.I look in the mirror from time to time and wonder why this was but I am now starting to see it to a degree.It is not that this or that person have this or that blood, but the truth is that we are made of one blood.That is the unique thing about the human race.

I hope that this book becomes a #one saler to help people understand the genome project.I did not purchase this book to read about Mae West's genetic make-up, but to learn more about her fantastic mystical style!

There is one thing that bothers me.Her movies tend to show racial inequalities.But this is the characteristic of 30's movies.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A classic
This is a book Mae West tried to have stopped because she wanted a cut of the money. It went through THREE different editions! FILLED with photos and every saying she ever said, it is highly recommended.

A Thrill a Day Keeps the Chill Away
I love this book and have worn out my original!It exemplifies just how quick-witted and lyrical Miss West was.Every page drips with her saucy sayings and gorgeous and alluring photos.Even if someone is not a Mae West fan, she will appreciate her wit and he will appreciate her beauty.

"It's not the men in my life that counts- it's the life in my men." ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Why don't you come up and see her sometime?
This doll and collection of Mae West costumes should be at the top of your list if you love the CLASSIC films of Mae West, and absolutely drooled over everything she wore.

The detail reflects Tom Tierney at his best, and takes me back to happy days spent as a teen endlessly designing paper doll costumes based on the fabulous fashions of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

This book absolutely belongs in your collection if you love great Hollywood style!

Tom Tierney at his best!
"Mae West Paper Doll" by Tom Tierney is among this artist's best works.It is reminiscent of his earlier titles, such as the "Marilyn Monroe Paper Dolls" and "Rudolph Valentino Paper Dolls".

The portrayal of Mae West is very lifelike, and the detail and colours of the costumes are outstanding.

This is a paper doll I would highly recommend to all paper doll enthusiasts as well as to fans of costume design. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

An EXCELLENT Book on Mae West, the woman AND her career
If I had NOT read the other 2 popular books on Mae West ("When I'm Bad I'm Better" -and- "It Ain't No Sin"), I would have given this book a 5 star rating. I give it 4 stars only because as I read thru this book, I drew on my recollections of the more thorough (but far less entertaining) ruminations about the censorial tribulations and machinations described in the other two books, which gave more substance to the narratives contained in this (Eells, Musgrove) book.

However, THIS book is MUCH more thorough on Ms West as the Performer AND the Woman -- with far less emphasis on her trials and tribulations with those pesky Censors, which ruined 3 movies that could have also been blockbusters for Ms West. It also had Photos Galore!! Wonderful photos!!

This particular book covers an era that the other 2 books MISS, or at the very most, glossed over lightly - the late 40's, through the 70's where Ms. West DID go out and Wow them in her usual inimitable spectacular fashion - those other two books had led me to believe that Ms. West did nothing after the censors had appeared to ruin her career, when instead, she carried on and went ahead with the same verve, style and audacity that she was famous for doing. These additional, well-written and detailed narratives REALLY rounded out my information on Mae West and at the end of the book I felt like I knew the woman much more as an individual as well as a genius of an actress and writer.

This book also elaborates more fully on her love life, which was just as varied and spectacular as her vaudeville productions, her plays and her movies.

I would have liked to have seen more information about the books she wrote.

Is there a Mae West museum with archives? There should be!

Mae West retrospectives ?(done the way SHE woulda done them!!) There should be!!

Viva Ms. West -- a TRUE legend in her own time AND ours!!!

Thank you Mssrs Eells and Musgrove, for writing this book!

AValiantAttemptExplainingALegend
GeorgeEells specialized in writing about female entertainers and intended to set the record straight on Mae West.Contrary to what was assumed at the time, Stanley Musgrove did not have a hand in writing this biography, but insisted onco-writing creditin exchange forhis insights while acting in the capacityas Miss West's publicity agent from her Hollywood film comeback in Myra Breckinridge up until the time of her death.
Eells took the point of view that West's real and public persona were nearly identical.Much of this conclusion may have come from the information he received from Musgrove, which was tainted in part from some disappointments from his business interactions with West.
Reviews of theEellsbook were generally positive though some reviews expressed repulsion at West's purported total self-absorption, based on negative comments expressed in the biography.
The pair had been collaberating on the book for two years prior to West's death with the tacit understanding from Paul Novak, her long time companion that the book would not be published in her lifetime.West became suspicious when pointed questions were directed towards her during weekly supper outings to Musgrove's home.Westexpressedher misgivings to Novak that her conversations over supper were being taped. It was later reported in the Hollywood Reporter that "Paul Novak is to receive a half share interest in the performing rights in return for clearing claims to his inclusion in all media."
Several glaring omissions are made in this biography, includingany mention of West's pop music career in the mid 1960's.As well, Tim Malachosky, a Mae West devotee whowas her last personal secretary, and who tended to her during her incapacitating stroke which lead to her death,is mentioned in passing as a "memorabilia collector."
Widely acknowledged to be the first major biography of Mae West apart from her own account of her life and times,George Eells' book is the perfect starting point for any seriousWestian scholar.

No hooks for the reader
This is a dull and dry biography for such a colorful subject. Boring, circular descriptions and few interesting anecdotes. Not recommended.

The very best
This is an early Mae West bio, now apparently out of print. It is excellent, and written by two people who knew her fairly well. Great photos. Both authors have passed on from what I understand. It was my introduction into the world of Mae West, and it was life changing. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Double Entendre Had Everything To Do With It
Mae West considered writing her autobiography as early as 1957 and several publishing houses had already approached her.A flood in the mid-thirties destroyed documents of her early vaudeville appearances stored in the basement ofher Hollywood apartment building, The Ravenswood, and other papers stored at her ranch house were eaten by rats.
Since arriving in Hollywood, her film career had been well-documented, but West had only a faint recollection of what happened and where.She asked Larry lee, who assisted her with the novelization of "Diamond Lil" to research her early stage career.Lee suggested they try writing a few chapters to see howthings went.Eventually Stephen Longstreet, an author who ghosted other star biographies came on board to help West pull together her book, and was given credit forhis "editorial assistance." West apparently supervised everything and pointed out, "Nobody can write about me except me,"a remarkable feat considering she barely completed the third grade.
The driving force in West's decision to pen her memoirs was that someone else might try to write an unauthorized account of her life and there wasn't much she could do about it since much of her life had been spent in the public domain.Initially West protested that she had so much more to do with her life, but friends pointed out she could write a sequel in the future.Some of the the early working titles West had in mind for her memoirs were "Queen of Sex," and "Come Up and See Me Sometime."
Although West's autobiography went through several printings in hardback and soft cover, critic's reaction to her account of her life was mixed.Theatre Arts stated "the heart of gold is outweighed by the purse of gold and the gloating over box-office grosses," while the New York Timesreviewer found West's tome "theatre wise, basically clean, sometimes corny, often entertaining yarn."
Perhaps Mae West's self penned novel, "Babe Gordon,"published in 1930 and later rechristened, "The Constant Sinner," was closer to theactualevents of her life, that she dared not reveal in her later biography.The inside panel of the original cover proclaimed, "Constantly sinning and constant to her sin, Babe Gordon, the heroine of this vigorous story belongs to that rare type of woman who uses her beauty and sexual allure as a soldier uses his weapons - without mercy or scruple.She is irresistible to every type of man, from the bruisers of the prize ring to the sensitive sons of aristocracy. She is canny, worldly wise, quick thinking.All her art , her wisdom, her will is to love; and when her passion for one man cools, she kindles it in another.
In a classic example of life imitating art, Mae West was outraged when Confidential magazine featured an expose on her private life alleging her sexual proclivity for black men.Chalky Wright, "a bronze boxer" whom West had met was "invited up to see her sometime" and ended up living with her for a year. Confidential magazine claimed"West's favorite color combination, as only the men in herlife know, is black and white."
As a result of Mae West's appearance in Myra Breckinridge in 1970,interest in her was at an all-time high, and MacFadden-Bartell published an updated edition of her biography in paperback.
West asked George Eiferman, a former 1948 Mr. America, and 1962 Mr. Universe title holder, to write an eightpage appendix entitled "My Story," explaining the events that led to Chuck Krauser akaPaul Novak knocking outMickey Hargitay.West sagely secured affidavits from the other bodybuilders in the act supporting her statement that she had never shown romantic interest in Haritay.When asked why it would possibly matter years after the fact, West pointed out, "That's where you're not thinkin' clear.It's when he gets desperate that he'll try to peddle a story, '"I was the One Man Mae West Wanted but Couldn't Get."
West's prophesy was realized when Gordon Mitchell, one of the muscleman in her Vegas act was quoted in the July 2001 issue of Premier : "Mickey won't tell you this but I will.Mae was crazy about him!He was the first guy who ever rejected her."Other chapters in West's updated memoirs dealt with the filming of Myra Breckinridge and outlined plans for future projects.
For the serious student of Mae West lore, "Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It" is an excellant starting off point to discover why Mae West can be considered the most fascinating woman of the TwentiethCentury. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Breezy Appreciation of Mae West's Bon Mots
In the August 1966 Mae West Fan Club Letter, Craig Eadie, wholater went on to become Craig Russell, a world renown female impersonator,warned members ofan upcoming book entitled, "The Wit and Wisdom of Mae West" edited by Joseph Weintraub."Just one problem...and not a small one by any means," he proclaimed."The publishers have undertaken this project, researched and compiled the material and arranged the layout and text, without one attempt to get in touch with Miss West."
West had her lawyer, Harold Fendler inform the President of Putnam "if they proceeded with publication of her copyrighted material with unauthorized commercial exploitation of her name and photographs, they would meet with prompt legal action." Putnam went ahead withtheir plans to publish the book and advance copies were sent to various newspapers to be reviewed.
Eadie wrote to fan club members, "There's no way of stoppinga Mae West fan from adding this volume of delights to his or her collection of Westiana, but I know you'll agree, though, that's it's a criminal shame the book is being done under such shady circumstances.It is unjust and unfair, but obviously necessary, that Miss West go to the courts to get compensation for use of her own material."
West obtained a court injuction, and in a later newsletter in 1967, Eadie was able to report, "Putnams have agreedMiss West will have full approval of allphotos and material, approval of publicity and exploitation strategy and as hoped for - fifty percent of the profits.Now we can all buy the book with Miss West's blessings."
Thebook went through numerous hardback and paperback editions and was retitled "Peel Me A Grape" in England.A fun, must have collection of Westian witicisms and delightful observations on life and love as could only be offered up by the inimitable Mae Westforhardcore and casual fans alike.Numerous black and whitephotographs and caricatures are included as well.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Sadly Lacking
this book is fun in that it has a lot of photos of Mae West and talks about her films but the author must not have seen the films recently when he penned this collection because he gets the many small facts wrong and miss matches the order of the scenes. I watched the movie then read what he wrote and it doesn't match up. it would be great for someone who has seen the films a long time ago to get an idea of them. one other neat thing about this book is that it contains some of Mae's best one liners.

Fantastic Little Gem on Legendary Mae
This is a softcover, profusely illustrated book about 5x7" in size on the career of Mae West with analysis on her first eleven films (her final one, SEXTETTE, had not yet been made when the book was published in 1975.)Bavar does very well with her writings on the films but the photo collection would make this one a five-star book even if the text was not so great.Essential for any Mae West library. ... Read more

Product Description
Mae West impersonators are falling victim to a vampirish killer, until the legendary siren herself decides to lead in the pursuit of the murderer. By the author of The Noel Coward Murder Case. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Satire that is a murder story
This book more than any of the others in Baxt's Hollywood series is satirical.It perfectly describes Miss Mae West as she was in the 30's - outrageous, campy and surprisingly generous.She was a very warm human being, and totally aware of what she was and what she wasn't.After all she created herself and marketed herself in a way that few actresses did in that day and age.In this book there are a series of murders of Mae West impersonators, and Detective Villon works with Mae to try to find the killer before the real Mae West became a victim.The crescendo builds up until it culminates in a bizarre Halloween party held at an infamous nightclub.More murders occur, but Mae manages to avoid it, and then gets ready to set up the denouement in the most curious place you'll ever find. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of the archetypal film star discusses West's Brooklyn girlhood, her rise to international fame, her arrest for "corrupting the morals of youth," her business savvy, and her sensational comeback. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A Campy Page Turner
Originally published in Great Britain and later distributed in the colonies, The Empress of Sex, by Maurice Leonard,was a welcome addition to the rather staid Mae West biographies available at the time.Leonard, a British television producer, flew to Los Angeles and spent considerable time interviewing some of Mae West's gay entourage in order to give his book a sensational slant.
One inner circle devotee, extremelyupset at not being interviewed, at the time living in the desert as a virtual recluse and changing his phone number every few months,publicly denounced this intriguing examination as "utter trash and a pack of lies,"when he was promoting his own pictorial tribute to Ms West.
Although well-researched and documented, this fascinating study failed to capture the imagination of Mae West fans,and was sadly overlooked, in part due to Leonard's dry British wit. Pity, because it's a jolly good read.

Fascinating for the most part
This book gives you real insight into Mae West's life and personality. While there are some errors in the captions under a few photographs, it is all well researched and very entertaining. I have read it more than twice...

Good Reading
The book about Mae West was good.I enjoyed all of it.It was funny, touching and very entertaining.I recommend it highly.

MaeWest: The Bad Gal That Made Good
Mae West: Empress of Sex by Maurice Leonard is a spirited account of the wild, serenely-brazen, sex-drenched life of Americas's foremost 1930's sex goddess Mae West.Saucy Miss West was born in 1893 in Brooklyn, New York , a gal with nerve to spare. Although in many ways still a product of the times, West was an autonomous, calculating cookie that knew the power of image and scandal in generating a stage career.Leonard shows West at the black clubs of 1920's New York City studying the outrageously sexy dances of the black crowd, doing her best to capture their moves, and then introducing those moves as her own to a properly shocked, white Broadway audience.West wrote her own stage and movie material; she felt sheknewwhat was right for her better than anyone else.She wrote plays, books, and screenplays dealing with the forbidden topics of homosexuality(The Drag), and sex (The Constant Sinner).She had a taste for musclemen, handsome black studs and wayward, lawless thugs. She generally never met a man she didn't like.Leonard's tome on West shows a woman who liked to be in control, control of her career, her men, and delusionally time itself.(She believed she looked twenty-six while in her eighties.)This book is a must read for all West's fans.

MaeWest: The Bad Gal That Made Good
Mae West: Empress of Sex by Maurice Leonard is a spirited account of the wild, serenely-brazen, sex-drenched life of Americas's foremost 1930's sex goddess Mae West.Saucy Miss West was born in 1893 in Brooklyn, New York , a gal with nerve to spare. Although in many ways still a product of the times, West was an autonomous, calculating cookie that knew the power of image and scandal in generating a stage career.Leonard shows West at the black clubs of 1920's New York City studying the outrageously sexy dances of the black crowd, doing her best to capture their moves, and then introducing those moves as her own to a properly shocked, white Broadway audience.West wrote her own stage and movie material; she felt sheknewwhat was right for her better than anyone else.She wrote plays, books, and screenplays dealing with the forbidden topics of homosexuality(The Drag), and sex (The Constant Sinner).She had a taste for musclemen, handsome black studs and wayward lawless thugs. She generally never met a man she didn't like.Leonard's tome on West shows a woman who liked to be in control, control of her career, her men, and delusionally time itself.(She believed she looked twenty-six while in her eighties.)This book is a must read for all West's fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A must have book for serious fans of Mae West
I must agree with the previous reviewer who pointed out that the author needlessly bashes the film SEXTETTE and that because of that, its impossible to give this book 5 stars. I did a review of SEXTETTE here on amazon and I pointed out some of the arguements made in this book and my feelings on those points. Aside from that, the book is full of great photos and tons of valuable information on the other films. A must have for any Mae West fan's collection, but see Sextette with an open mind first, and then judge it for yourself. Don't just listen to this author's somewhat cruel appraisal. The woman was, after all, in her mid-80's when SEXTETTE was made, and you know, we all know women 30 years younger than that who don't look as good as Mae does in SEXTETTE. Otherwise a great book.

He Done Her Right (Except for the Revision)
THE original FILMS OF MAE WEST was one of the best entries in the Citadel film series.Originally published in the early 70's when Mae was still alive and active (one film yet to be made!) it's both admiring and serious, fan-oriented and scholarly.Since Mae only made 11 pictures at that point, each movie gets far more attention that films in other volumes where the star made 60 ormore.Tuska clearly admired Maeat the time (he even heaps praise of the widely trashed MYRA BRECKENRIDGE, accurately predicting it would become a cult film!)Alas, he apparently had a falling out with West or something because in his update for the edition after her death hebrutally trashes her last film, the genteel rather enjoyable sex comedy SEXTETTE as well as her performance, makes comments about her personal abilities in her final years that are unkind and rude, and tacks on a final essay on her that seems dismissive.I would give the book five stars if not for these "revisions". ... Read more