Customer Reviews

The Constant Sinner (Modern Classics, 400)

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The Constant Sinner is a dramatic novel about a young beautiful woman, Babe Gordon, and her intriguing storm through New York's underworld and society set. From the wanton streets of Harlem, to the prizefighting arena, to the lascivious speakeasies and night resorts, Babe's intense passion for men and wealth lead her on an unscrupulous and uninhibited journey. Set in the pre-libertarian 1930's U.S., the story takes its most notorious turn when Babe begins a love affair with a Black racketeer, Money Johnson. Gripping, racy, poetic, articulate, this book is exceptionally well written. The Constant Sinner is one of those rare novels, so perfect and original in its content and style, that its presence assumes a classic or cult-like acclaim. However, it's Mae West the entertainer whose celebrity has become that of legend. So, let the truth be known...West is nothing short of genius... an outstanding writer, artist, historian, and cultural critic.

The Constant Sinner has the famous line, "She would not have known what a moral was if it could be made to dance naked in front of her." Negligently shrugging off any concerns over such aspersions, Mae West's "unmoral" character Babe Gordon breaks the 1930s' conventions that maintained rigid color lines. A fascinating story that shows a street fighter trample over all kinds of barriers.