• • And so begins Becoming Mae West, a fascinatin' 431-page bio by Emily Wortis Leider that is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The Californian poet received rave reviews in The New York Times and elsewhere, bringing her 1997 hardcover [NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux] to many readers' attention.
• • Since then Becoming Mae West has been reprinted twice. It is available in paperback [NY: Da Capo; published 4 April 2000; 480 pages] as well as in a large-print edition in hardcover [Thorndike Press; January 2001; 912 pages].
• • To celebrate the book's tenth anniversary, here is an excerpt from the review printed a decade ago by Library Journal:
• • Emily Wortis Leider (California's Daughter: Gertrude Atherton & Her Times, LJ 11/15/90) traces Mae West's development from child performer to coltish shimmy dancer to the drawling, wise-cracking persona recognized today. The author's focus on West's early career allows her to examine significant changes in American culture as the population became predominantly urban and the new media of film and radio began encroaching on established forms of entertainment. Yet the heart of the story is West — — already a veteran performer with over 30 years' experience when she arrived in Hollywood. But once West honed her persona, she was reluctant to deviate from the successful formula, stifling her arresting creativity and originality. This combined with perennial censorship problems caused the decades-long break in her film career. Recommended for large public libraries and subject collections. ...
• • Reviewer: Marianne Cawley, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Maryland
• • Source: Library Journal — — summer 1997
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • none • •
NYC
Mae West.
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