Mae West: It Ain't No Sin [Hardcover]

Simon Louvish (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312348789 | ISBN-13: 978-0312348786 | Publication Date: November 14, 2006 | Edition: 2nd

Sex goddess, Hollywood star, transgressive playwright, author, blues singer, and vaudeville brat---Mae West remains the twentieth century's greatest comedienne. She made an everlasting mark in trailblazing Broadway plays such as Sex and The Constant Sinner and in films such as She Done Him Wrong, Klondike Annie, and I'm No Angel.
            Simon Louvish, biographer of W. C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Keystone's Mack Sennett, brings Mae to vibrant life in this unparalleled new biography. He charts her amazing seven decades in show business, from early years in teenage summer stock to her last reincarnation as 1960s gay icon and grande dame of Hollywood survivors.
            Mae West: It Ain't No Sin is the first biography to make use of Mae's recently uncovered personal papers, offering an unprecedented view into the endless creative drive and daring wit of this legendary star.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although at least four full-length biographies have been written about Mae West since her death at 87 in 1980, Louvish (Man on the Flying Trapeze) is the first biographer to have access to the recently opened archive of West memorabilia including a 2,000-page collection of quips and jokes and the numerous revisions of the 12 plays, eight screenplays and three novels she wrote. West created and perfected her languid sex goddess persona during years in vaudeville and by serving as her own playwright, but Louvish discovers West's secret life was filled not with lovers but long nights of polishing and refining her scripts. She was almost 40 when she made her first film, but two years later, she was the highest paid performer in the U.S. Louvish's bio is appreciative and extensively detailed, focusing on West as writer. It can sometimes feel plodding as he transcribes skits and routines (although most still sparkle seven decades later, like "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted"). Summing up West's final three decades in a mere 50 pages feels rushed. But Louvish's research cements West's reputation as the definitive siren of suggestion, without whom there would never have been any Sex & the City. Photos. (Nov. 21)
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Review

Praise for Mae West
 
"Meticulously researched and finely crafted. Theatrical and cinematic history are skillfully related to the wider social and political background."
---The Independent (UK)

"This is the fifth of Louvish's scrupulously researched studies of celebrated comic figures. . . . As with its predecessors, the style is jaunty, and as all of its subjects are wreathed in myth, often of their own creation, he takes great pleasure in laying out and sifting the conflicting evidence on the page."
---Observer (UK)
 
"If you appreciate a wealth of facts delivered in a straightforward, readable style . . . then Louvish's book will delight you."
---Scotland on Sunday
Praise for Stan and Ollie
 
"Lovingly researched."
---Daily News
 
"Louvish is at his best in discussing how Laurel and Hardy, unlike most of the great silent-film comedians, had no trouble making the transition to sound."
---The New York Times

"Louvish's wide-eyed love for his subjects' simple, forthright, and hardworking desire to please will bring down the house."
---Kirkus Reviews (starred)

 "Thanks to a lively, affectionate writer, we can glimpse the great clowns at work."
---Dallas Morning News
 
"Brims with affection and still preserves an honest, unbiased view of their creativity and personal traumas."
---Publishers Weekly
 
"This definitive treatment is recommended."
---Library Journal (starred)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 2nd edition (November 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312348789
• ISBN-13: 978-0312348786
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword, November 23, 2006

By 

R. M. Desjardins "R. Mark Desjardins" (Vancouver, B.C. Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mae West: It Ain't No Sin (Hardcover)

Simon Louvish's biography of Mae West, "It Ain't No Sin" is a workmanlike examination of a remarkable show woman's career that spanned the entire gamut of 20 Century showbusiness from vaudeville, the Broadway stage, talkies, sound recordings, Las Vegas, and eventually television.
Placing the accomplishments of this extraordinary performing artist in chronological order and making sence of her impact at the time and beyond represents a yoman's task, which for the most past, Mr. Louvish is well prepared.
It is disappointing that the much ballyhooed entree to "her previously unaccessed papers" offers so little insight to the workings of her mind. However Mr. Louvish does point out that Mae West spent a lot of time pushing the pen well into the wee hours of the night polishing and perfecting her craft , giving her adoring public the impression that she was pushing against something mightier than the proverbial pen.
Mae West endured well past her initial Hollywood prime and continued to thrill new audiences well into the 1950's, Sixties and Seventies. Unfortunately, this aspect of her career and life are skipped over lightly. Mae West flowered during the Free Love Generation of the 1960's and became a cultural icon that outgrew her initial camp second coming.
Her contribution to Gay Liberation and the legions of fans gay, hetrosexual and try anything who befriended and encouraged her in the later stages of her career are sadly overlooked. Perhaps this is because Mr. Louvish did not have the time available to dig beyond the surface in regards to this remarkable period of her public and private persona.
I have had the remarkable good luck to become acquainted with many of Mae West's "gay mafia" and been privy to many of the remarkable adventures they shared with her. Through the stories her confidantes related during the last two decades of her life, one comes to understand the truly personable and lovely individual Mae West really was. It is my hope that my manuscript, "Saint Mae Our Lady Of Hips & Quips", researched over a ten year span, will eventually find a publisher, and give Mae West's adoring public another aspect of this truly unique individual, who was like a diamond in her ability to focus light on the facet of her life she wanted seen at any given time.
In the meantime, Mr. Louvish's tome is as good a read on Mae West currently available, and is well worth having in your personal library.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GOODNESS HAD EVERYTING TO DO WITH IT, November 20, 2006

By 

Alan W. Petrucelli (THE ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (ALAN W. PETRUCELLI)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mae West: It Ain't No Sin (Hardcover)

She loved to push the envelope . . . and push it she did. There was her highly publicized arrest in NYC on moral charges and a 10-day jail stay, but few people know that Mae West pushed that #10 a bit too far on radio---a 1937 sketch about Adam and Eve (she was Eve, Don Ameche, Adam) was so far out of bounds that she was barred from NBC and did not appear on radio again for 31 years. Proof, indeed, that when she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad, she was better. Simon Louvish's biography of the sexpot is a detailed, unapologetic work on the woman who reinvented herself artistically while constantly maintaining an aura of sexuality uncommon in public display at that time. Enlightening and exhaustively researched (this is the first West bio to make use of her recently uncovered personal papers), but the publisher still has done her wrong: The reproduction of the photos is dismal and distracting.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read, April 1, 2007

By 

Emberweave - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mae West: It Ain't No Sin (Hardcover)

This biography chronicles Mae West's life and achievements very well. However, the author's writing style could have used some editing to avoid repetetive phrasing and over-use of "as we shall see". A fact checker might also have helped since the New York hotel mentioned as being on the site of Mae's old theatre is not called the "Marquess Marriott". It's the Marriott Marquis. I know because I worked there a few years after it opened. One would think a British author would be better versed in noble titles.
But back to Mae. This book shows just how hard Mae West worked at her craft in order to make everything she did seem effortless. She was a dedicated performer and this book does a better job than most in conveying that fact.