Becoming Mae West

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 censor—the very people who provided some of her best publicity but who eventually struck a blow for prudery from which her career would never recover.










ISBN-13 : 9780306809514
Publisher : Da Capo Press
Publication date : 04/01/2000
Author : Emily Worth Leider

Editorial Reviews

Boston Globe

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

Steven Bach

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."

Martha McPhee

Insightful and engaging... Leider has put us fully in the world of a driven, determined woman. — New York Times Book Review

Wayne Koestenbaum

An eloquent, scrupulous, intelligent account of this star's life and times. — Los Angeles Times

Meet the Author

Emily Worth Leider, a former editor and reviewer for many publications, including the San Francisco Review of Books, is the author of California's Daughter: Gertrude Atherton and Her Times.She lives in northern California.