First time in paperback: A dazzling biography of one of our most flamboyant stars and a truly mighty woman.. Emily Worth Leider combines newly uncovered archival material, fine writing, and a rich appreciation of West's unique blend of comedy and come-hither appeal to shape this enormously engrossing biography and portrait of an era. She gives us not just Mae West the bawdy icon, but also the driven performer who honed her act on the vaudeville circuit, wrote her own material to get a decent part, and never stopped battling the censorthe very people who provided some of her best publicity but who eventually struck a blow for prudery from which her career would never recover.