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Mae West: An Icon in Black and White

by Jill Watts (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 38 ratings
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"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.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0195105478
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0195105476
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    August 23, 2001
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    6.75 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  7. Print length
    400 pages
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

art sexy blonde bombshell, part delusional Norma Desmond, West created an invulnerable, tough-talking, sexually assertive persona, partly to mask insecurities and psychological wounds from early sexual assaults, asserts Watts in this remarkably detailed and well-written biography. West played that indelible character on and off stage the rest of her life, often referring to herself in the third person. But West (1893-1980) was not just the actress who singlehandedly saved the financially strapped Paramount Pictures with her back-to-back hits in 1933, She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel. She was also a voluminous writer penning not only her films and plays but also three novels and an autobiography. Although now enshrined as a comedic institution, for virtually her entire career West's writing, singing, personality, acting and looks were blisteringly belittled by critics and yet the hard shell she'd created kept her marching confidently forward. Watts offers outstanding, clear-eyed analysis of West's career and how censorship affected her work. She's on less stable ground with her contention that West had African-American ancestry, which she attempts to prove not through documentation but by noting how West's personality, musical style, taste and interests stemmed from the African-American community. While it certainly appears that West (and others in her era) appreciated and borrowed from black artists and the Harlem Renaissance, it seems a stretch to claim West was attempting to reveal her roots every time a black character or ethnic slang appeared in her work. Still, West fans will welcome this new, enlightening biography of the enigmatic star, which offers a broader view of her impact on social and cultural history and as a First Amendment champion.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* West, the shimmying belle of innuendo and unabashed female sexuality, and self-mythologizer extraordinaire, conquered stage, film, print, and television with her bawdy comedy, which bashed gender and racial stereotypes and aroused both worship and controversy for decades. Twenty years after her death, writers Emily Wortis Leider, Claudia Roth Pierpont, and now Watts recognize the complexity and significance of her wily, risky, and courageous art and persona. Author of God, Harlem U.S.A: The Father Divine Story (1992), Watts weighs in with the first complete biography of West, an incisive and vivid portrait that focuses on the enormous influence African American music and culture had on West and the possibility that her paternal grandfather was African American. Part black or not, there is no doubt that West, a working-class hero, identified profoundly with blacks as she vamped her way out of New York's underworld to fame, power, wealth, and virtual immortality by creating tough, bluesy, and sexually assured heroines who slyly subvert society's prejudices and hypocrisy. Watts' spirited and intelligent analysis chronicles West's battles with censorship, celebrates her compassionate artistic vision and discipline, and unveils the enigmas and dualisms that pervade the forever iconic West's work and life. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (August 23, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195105478
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195105476
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.65 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

About the author

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Jill Watts

Jill Watts

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Jill Watts is a Professor of History at California State University, San Marcos. She received her B.A. in History from the University of California San Diego and her M.A. and Ph.D. from UCLA. She is the author of three books--Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood, Mae West: An Icon in Black and White, and God, Harlem USA: The Father Divine Story. Dr. Watts is also the coordinator of the history graduate program and the university's Brakebill Distinguished Professor for 2017-2018. Her books on Hattie McDaniel and Father Divine have been optioned for film.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
38 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dianna Hodges
5.0 out of 5 stars I gotta say that if there is ANYTHING you didn't ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2018
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I gotta say that if there is ANYTHING you didn't know about Mae West it is probably in this book. Normally you would not expect the kind of extensive research for anything less than a president. Maybe my only complaint is that it is a little dry and a little less salacious and light-hearted than i was expecting. It is also a little stretch of the imagination that Mae West was a pioneer for equality rather than a self promoting money-maker. Oh well - still quite a gal.
3 people found this helpful
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PammyPam
5.0 out of 5 stars Very insightful
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2021
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I watched a special on Amazon about Mae West. The book was consistent and provided much more detail.
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Lafenix2000
5.0 out of 5 stars Important read
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2020
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Great read on Mae West and her groundbreaking influence. Very well researched
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Linda Muro
4.0 out of 5 stars Who'd a guessed?
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2016
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Who would have guessed at some of the information in this book !? Somewhat redundant at times, but for me the subject matter was fascinating. Did not realize Mae West began working at such an early age. She was, as always said, "ahead of her time." Interesting how politics got involved over and over again. The "black and white" theme here did not refer to the fact that the films were not in color.
3 people found this helpful
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Jay R. Raskin
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2016
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Great book!
2 people found this helpful
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Cynthia S.
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2021
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The pages were crowded, very little white space, which when first starting to read, it made you feel that you wanted to skip a lot of the pages to get to some of the meat of the story. The writer appeared to not believe a lot of things stated by Ms. West, which took the wind out of my sails. Couldn't finish.
2 people found this helpful
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reno
5.0 out of 5 stars good price.
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2015
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Quick delivery, good price.
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darren morefield
2.0 out of 5 stars Someone thesis got published
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2013
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Manages to make a dynamic women seem so dull that i still havent managed to finish it and may never.
One person found this helpful
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