Book Reviewed: Mae West by George Eells

Mae West, an America icon This is a fascinating study of Mae West, an actress, playwright, screenwriter, and iconic sex symbol. The author reveals a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own image. Her screenplays made her a cultural icon for sexuality and social subversion. In the 1930s, she was not only considered scandalous but dangerous to the American society. She achieved her success through hard work and dogged persistence by employing fair or foul means, trickery, and ruthlessness in the rough-and­ tumble world of show-business. She dimmed Marlene Dietrich's allure, outshone glossy Joan Crawford, and overpowered Greta Garbo's subtle eroticism. Depression era audiences were stimulated by her unapologetic exhibitionism and cynical behavior. In her films she was the first woman to function as a leading man. For all the variety of the scripts she wrote, the constant factor was West’s personality to ridicule social attitudes toward sex. She was a sensation on Broadway with her play “Sex.” In 1926, she was convicted of obscenity, and spent ten-days in prison but emerged as a star. The movie “She Done Him Wrong” single-handedly saved Paramount Studios from probable bankruptcy, or it may have improved Paramount's fiscal condition and probably saved it from being merged with MGM Studios. Enigmatic life of Mae West was spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures. Her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway, and Hollywood, where she became one of the big screen's most popular and colorful stars. This book is well-written and the author’s narratives of West’s life and her interactions with other leading ladies is fascinating. Reading this book is a pleasure!