Becoming Mae West

Rating:
Summary: Mae West: A Self-Made Woman
Review: "Becoming Mae West" is simply the best book written about the star because it is focused and meticulously researched, employing primary sources when available. Ms Leider's book has the authority without sacrificing readability; the author writes well. The fascinating part of West's life is how she cobbled together an act and a personality that is an amalgam of Police Gazette melodrama, the comic camp of female impressionist Bert Savoy, and the daring sexual style and musical sense of the great African American blues women. Mae West's sense of possibilities allowed her to transform herself from a pudgy Jewish/Irish girl with more guts than talent into a blond sex symbol of amazonian proportions (okay, she used six inch platform shoes) who refined the rough soubrette type into a witty American icon. Emily Leider tells this story well. For those who wanted the dirt on West's declining decades, Ms. Leider sketches it in to complete the tale. But as Leider warns the reader, it was the act of Becoming Mae West that prompted her to write this book, not the effort of a woman entrapped by her creation to preserve it. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Mae West: A Self-Made Woman
Review: "Becoming Mae West" is simply the best book written about the star because it is focused and meticulously researched, employing primary sources when available. Ms Leider's book has the authority without sacrificing readability; the author writes well. The fascinating part of West's life is how she cobbled together an act and a personality that is an amalgam of Police Gazette melodrama, the comic camp of female impressionist Bert Savoy, and the daring sexual style and musical sense of the great African American blues women. Mae West's sense of possibilities allowed her to transform herself from a pudgy Jewish/Irish girl with more guts than talent into a blond sex symbol of amazonian proportions (okay, she used six inch platform shoes) who refined the rough soubrette type into a witty American icon. Emily Leider tells this story well. For those who wanted the dirt on West's declining decades, Ms. Leider sketches it in to complete the tale. But as Leider warns the reader, it was the act of Becoming Mae West that prompted her to write this book, not the effort of a woman entrapped by her creation to preserve it. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Mae West: A Self-Made Woman
Review: "Becoming Mae West" is simply the best book written about the star because it is focused and meticulously researched, employing primary sources when available. Ms Leider's book has the authority without sacrificing readability; the author writes well. The fascinating part of West's life is how she cobbled together an act and a personality that is an amalgam of Police Gazette melodrama, the comic camp of female impressionist Bert Savoy, and the daring sexual style and musical sense of the great African American blues women. Mae West's sense of possibilities allowed her to transform herself from a pudgy Jewish/Irish girl with more guts than talent into a blond sex symbol of amazonian proportions (okay, she used six inch platform shoes) who refined the rough soubrette type into a witty American icon. Emily Leider tells this story well. For those who wanted the dirt on West's declining decades, Ms. Leider sketches it in to complete the tale. But as Leider warns the reader, it was the act of Becoming Mae West that prompted her to write this book, not the effort of a woman entrapped by her creation to preserve it. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Great read, wanted more!
Review: A fascinating account of the life and times of a self-made legend, who lived life by her own rules and celebrated her sexuality on an astonishing level. The book provided mcuh insight to the times, as well as the motives and cunning of Mae West. However, I would have liked to read more about her later life, seeing as she lived another forty years after where the book drops off. All in all, a really meticulous and well done biography.

Rating:
Summary: Great read, wanted more!
Review: A fascinating account of the life and times of a self-made legend, who lived life by her own rules and celebrated her sexuality on an astonishing level. The book provided mcuh insight to the times, as well as the motives and cunning of Mae West. However, I would have liked to read more about her later life, seeing as she lived another forty years after where the book drops off. All in all, a really meticulous and well done biography.

Rating:
Summary: Could've been better...
Review: Although this book has a decent selection of photographs of the great West, it's treatment of the subject is a little too light for me. It is definitely a good window into the times that produced this American Icon, but often it goes too much on a tangent about the times. I recommend that Mae West fanatics seek out the biography by Eels and Musgrove, or Mae West's own autobiography to get an entertaining insight into Mae West. If you've seen those, this will also sit well in your collection.

Rating:
Summary: Lively, searching, always fascinating, and often funny
Review: Becoming Mae West is not just a thoroughly researched biography of a show business phenomenon. It is a portrait of the entertainment world in the first half of our century and a thoughtful exploration of changes in American attitudes to sex. Leider's writing sparkles, gracefuly disguising the enormous research on which the book is based, and it is frequently and appropriately funny. Becoming Mae West is a terrific read for anyone interested in Broadway and Hollywood.

Rating:
Summary: Mae West: Real to Reel
Review: Emily Wortis Leider has written a biography of Mae West that is more than a rehash of her films and a retelling of her famous lines. Leider writes well and entertainingly and has researched her subject conscientiously. The result is a clearer picture of who Mae West was as a person and how she "became" the character that became her. Leider states her intention early and clearly. While her bio does cover West's entire life, her films and her efforts to remain an icon, Leider is more interested in how the little girl from Brooklyn became a musical soubrette, a vaudeville star, a playwright and stellar star of stage and screen. Along the way we get revealing glimpses into the show business of the early 20th century, America's social attitudes and the personal rebellions that would emerge into movements. Highly recommmeded.

Rating:
Summary: Mae West: Real to Reel
Review: Emily Wortis Leider has written a biography of Mae West that is more than a rehash of her films and a retelling of her famous lines. Leider writes well and entertainingly and has researched her subject conscientiously. The result is a clearer picture of who Mae West was as a person and how she "became" the character that became her. Leider states her intention early and clearly. While her bio does cover West's entire life, her films and her efforts to remain an icon, Leider is more interested in how the little girl from Brooklyn became a musical soubrette, a vaudeville star, a playwright and stellar star of stage and screen. Along the way we get revealing glimpses into the show business of the early 20th century, America's social attitudes and the personal rebellions that would emerge into movements. Highly recommmeded.

Rating:
Summary: It's the Life in your Book that Counts
Review: Having read several books about Mae West already, I was caught a bit off guard by the content of Ms. Leider's fine biography. I went into the book expecting a straightforward tale of the escapades of Miss West's illustrious career, but was handed a different deck of cards all together. The atmoshere of early 20th Century New York is so wonderfully depicted, that I felt like I was off in another time and place while reading. Leider expertly weaves in and out of the tale of Miss West's life story and the culture of the time with such finesse, that I didn't realize I was getting a history lesson at the same time. There is so much more to this novel than the biographical nature of it. Everything from early Broadway to Hollywood and the changes in societal norms is handled superbly. Mae West was a fascinating person all on her own. This novel supports the legend while making its own mark as well. This novel is by far the most superior book on her that I have come across. I would venture to guess that even non-fans will find it extremely good reading.