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The Resource Mae West : an icon in black and white, Jill Watts, (electronic resource)

Mae West : an icon in black and white, Jill Watts, (electronic resource)

Creator
Contributor
Summary
"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend? Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars. Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender. Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and "signifying," West also may have hinted at her own African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white. This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image. "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend?
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
Mae West : an icon in black and white
Title
Mae West
Title remainder
an icon in black and white
Statement of responsibility
Jill Watts
Creator
Contributor
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend? Sifting through previously untapped sources, author Jill Watts unravels the enigmatic life of Mae West, tracing her early years spent in the Brooklyn subculture of boxers and underworld figures, and follows her journey through burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and, finally, Hollywood, where she quickly became one of the big screen's most popular--and colorful--stars. Exploring West's penchant for contradiction and her carefully perpetuated paradoxes, Watts convincingly argues that Mae West borrowed heavily from African American culture, music, dance and humor, creating a subversive voice for herself by which she artfully challenged society and its assumptions regarding race, class and gender. Viewing West as a trickster, Watts demonstrates that by appropriating for her character the black tradition of double-speak and "signifying," West also may have hinted at her own African-American ancestry and the phenomenon of a black woman passing for white. This absolutely fascinating study is the first comprehensive, interpretive account of Mae West's life and work. It reveals a beloved icon as a radically subversive artist consciously creating her own complex image. "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?" Mae West invited and promptly captured the imagination of generations. Even today, years after her death, the actress and author is still regarded as the pop archetype of sexual wantonness and ribald humor. But who was this saucy starlet, a woman who was controversial enough to be jailed, pursued by film censors and banned from the airwaves for the revolutionary content of her work, and yet would ascend to the status of film legend?
Accompanying matter
technical information on music
Cataloging source
Midwest
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1958-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Watts, Jill
Dewey number
  • 791.43/028/092
  • B
Form of composition
not applicable
Format of music
not applicable
Literary text for sound recordings
other
PerformerNote
Read by Holly Palance
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
  • Palance, Holly
  • hoopla digital
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • West, Mae
  • Motion picture actors and actresses
  • United States
Target audience
adult
Transposition and arrangement
not applicable
Label
Mae West : an icon in black and white, Jill Watts, (electronic resource)
Link
Instantiates
Publication
Distribution
Antecedent source
unknown
Capture and storage technique
digital storage
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
not applicable
Configuration of playback channels
unknown
Content category
spoken word
Content type code
  • spw
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
  • not applicable
  • unknown
Edition
Unabridged.
Extent
1 online resource (1 audio file (17hr., 47 min.))
File format
unknown
Form of item
  • online
  • electronic
Governing access note
Digital content provided by hoopla
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
Isbn
9781645553847
Isbn Type
(sound recording : hoopla Audio Book)
Kind of cutting
not applicable
Kind of disc cylinder or tape
not applicable
Kind of material
unknown
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
digital.
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
14008219
Publisher number
MWT14008219
Quality assurance targets
unknown
Reformatting quality
access
Sound
sound
Special playback characteristics
digital recording
Specific material designation
  • other
  • remote
Speed
other
System details
Mode of access: World Wide Web
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable
Label
Mae West : an icon in black and white, Jill Watts, (electronic resource)
Link
Publication
Distribution
Antecedent source
unknown
Capture and storage technique
digital storage
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
not applicable
Configuration of playback channels
unknown
Content category
spoken word
Content type code
  • spw
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
  • not applicable
  • unknown
Edition
Unabridged.
Extent
1 online resource (1 audio file (17hr., 47 min.))
File format
unknown
Form of item
  • online
  • electronic
Governing access note
Digital content provided by hoopla
Groove width / pitch
not applicable
Isbn
9781645553847
Isbn Type
(sound recording : hoopla Audio Book)
Kind of cutting
not applicable
Kind of disc cylinder or tape
not applicable
Kind of material
unknown
Level of compression
unknown
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other physical details
digital.
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
14008219
Publisher number
MWT14008219
Quality assurance targets
unknown
Reformatting quality
access
Sound
sound
Special playback characteristics
digital recording
Specific material designation
  • other
  • remote
Speed
other
System details
Mode of access: World Wide Web
Tape configuration
not applicable
Tape width
not applicable

Subject

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