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Title: Mae West: An Icon in Black and White by Jill Watts ISBN: 0-19-510547-8 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.79 (14 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Not What It's Cracked Up To Be
Comment: I have read a lot of Mae West books. Obviously, that means I am a Mae West fan--and a big one. I found this book difficult to read, what I mean is-difficult to finish. It is boring, long-winded and the author seems to feel Mae had black roots. This is the writer's whole theme, and it is just groundless. On and on and on...enough already. This bio of Mae adds nothing to earlier works.
Rating: 4
Summary: Amazon Reviewers Can't Read
Comment: Amazon customers' reviews of this book are as fascinating as the book itself. I'm amazed at how many people appear unable to understand what they read. Contrary to several reviewers' indignant claims, Jill Watts does *not* argue that Mae West was part black. Her meticulously-researched book carefully separates speculation from fact, and she states early and clearly that there is simply not enough information to settle the question of West's racial background. She then asserts that it doesn't matter whether West did or did not have African-American ancestry. What *does* matter is how West handled issues of racial identity in her writing and in her personal and professional performances. Watts' analysis reveals a woman who was, for her time, a strong champion of African-Americans and who was also deeply ambivalent about racial roles and identities. This book is more than a biography; it is also study of the social constructions of race, class, and gender in general and of the persona of "Mae West" in particular.
I suspect that the readers who are so outraged at the idea that West may have been part-black find issues of race personally disturbing. (As one reviewer asked, why does it matter so intensely to these people that Mae be all-white?) The dismissive readers probably also came to the book expecting a standard Hollywood-style star story rather than an academic analysis. Perhaps because the book took a different approach than they expected, they didn't read very carefully.
In terms of the book itself, it has the strengths I've already noted: it's carefully researched, thoughtful, and does a great deal more than simply detail a star's life. However, in exploring her thesis, Watts is often repetitive and is sometimes guilty of trying far too hard to make her case. Also, because she wants to portray West as a positive force in subverting traditional definitions of gender and class, Watts often downplays or excuses West's sometimes demanding, hurtful, temperamental behavior. It would have been more intellectually honest to acknowledge West's flaws more fully.
One final (minor) point: where the heck were the editors? I expect more from Oxford UP than usage errors ("a myriad of") and typos ("or" for "of," etc.)
Overall, an informative, interesting book.
Rating: 1
Summary: Author is trying to make money off of lies
Comment: Pure sensationalism! It's like reading the National Enquirer. The author has jumped on the "he/she was part-black bandwagon" in a feeble attempt to make a buck.
Hey, I got an idea... I will write a book claiming that Robert DeNiro must of had a black grandma because he only dates dark skinned women!
Skim thru it at the library and you will agree.
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Title: Becoming Mae West by Emily Worth Leider ISBN: 0306809516 Publisher: Da Capo Press Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Three Plays by Mae West: Sex the Drag and Pleasure Man by Lillian Schlissel ISBN: 0415909333 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 01 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: When I'm Bad, I'm Better: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment by Marybeth Hamilton ISBN: 0520210948 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.22 |
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Title: Lost Hollywood by David Wallace ISBN: 0312261950 Publisher: L A Weekly Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle ISBN: 0871138743 Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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