Article: Becoming Mae West.

Sexy Mae wiggles her way into history

Emily Wortis Leider's Becoming Mae West (Farrar Straus Giroux, 431 pp.) would have been better titled "Being Mae West." For the heroine of this somewhat distant biography seems to exist in a determined present tense. Mae West is. Even during her early career in vaudeville, she bears a finished personality, and it is that carries her through a career that climaxes on screen, with films like She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel. She forges a trail for herself, with her own sensuality, wit and earthy aggressiveness as her only compass points.

West, a keen and devoted self-observer, was aware of this phenomenon. In a ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!