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.

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)