She Always Knew How: Mae West, A Personal Biography

By Charlotte Chandler

Sex goddess Mae West is responsible for some of the most quoted lines in film history:

* Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

* When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better.

* It's not the men in my life that counts - it's the life in my men.

She was a performer from childhood and debuted on Broadway in a play she wrote entitled "Sex" which was a success until it was raided for immorality and Mae was jailed for ten days.

This book is packed with stars from George Raft to Cary Grant and W.C. Fields, with whom she made "My Little Chickadee", the most successful film of Fields' career.

Charlotte Chandler recorded Mae West over a period of roughly a month towards the end of the star's life. She was still as vital and lively as ever, and this book will convey all of Mae West's legendary attitude.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Dec 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781471105845

Charlotte Chandler

Charlotte Chandler is the author of several biographies of actors and directors, including Groucho Marx, Federico Fellini, Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Crawford, and Mae West, all of whom she interviewed extensively. She is a member of the board of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and lives in New York City.

Reviews for She Always Knew How

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

She Always Knew How: A Personal Biography of Mae West by Charlotte Chandler is a 2009 Simon & Schuster publication. I have always wanted to know more about Mae West but have never seemed able to find the time to watch any documentaries over her life or read a biography about her, but I came across this book and decided to make the time to read it.This biography is organized the way I think a bio should be, in chronological order. There is a brief section on Mae’s childhood, her close relationship with her mom, and her childhood performances. From there the author takes us through Mae’s stage plays which got her thrown in jail due to the subject matter, which often revolved around homosexuals and drag queens, which would have been very scandalous in those days. This is just one example of how far ahead of her time Mae was. She was bawdy, controversial, with no shortage of confidence, but was also shy, surrounding herself with family and only a few close friends. This biography gave highlights of Mae’s Hollywood years, breaking down the synopsis of the movie and the characters Mae portrayed. Mae spoke about each film, relating her thoughts about the movie, her personal experiences while shooting the film and her relationship with her co-stars. Mae’s personal life was also examined and the nature of her relationship with men, and the one guy she really did love, who was with her to the very end. Since I am not an aficionado in Mae West, there were many facts related here that I was unaware of. I felt that the author did indeed know this larger than life lady intimately and did strive to honor her memory as well capture her spirit. I loved that Mae’s voice was a big part of this book, and the insights came from largely from Mae’s own words. However, I got the distinct impression that Mae remained in character for the most part and I’m not sure if anyone except those very close to her ever really got to know the real Mae West. This book did not dig too terribly deep into Mae’s personal life and never addressed any of the lurid rumors that have cropped up over the years. It's obvious the author glossed over quite of few areas and totally ignored anything that might have tainted Mae's image. Mae’s first love was her career and so perhaps it was fitting that the focus of the book was primarily on her work. Now that I have a nice list of Mae’s more notable performances, I intend to look those movies up and watch them. I would like to find a more in depth bio that might give me more insight into Mae’s true nature and personality off camera, but overall this is an interesting read, and I have to say I really enjoyed Mae’s personal musings more than anything else. This is not a bad way introduce yourself to Mae West, if you are not familiar with her. Her quotes are used every day and still resonate. She lived her life, her way, on her own terms, and never once apologized, which for a woman of her era was groundbreaking and not always an easy accomplishment.

[ruthied-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I so wanted to read this.book. Mae West quotations abound and I'd become intrigued by her. At first, how she describes herself can seem inspirational, always look groomed, never under sell yourself. But the bottom line is ...it was just so cold . No emotion to hook yourself on. Just a litany of if I still weren't intrigued by her shallow answers to questions by a lady with an inflated ego. I don't think this of her though....it's just not the right book for me about her.

[knahs_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Chandler's biography on Mae West consists of interviews with West near the end of the life. However, there are no references to the date the interview took place nor the dates that Chandler interviewed others who comment on their work with West. West comes across as completely in love with herself. The book gives a good look at West's career - in West's own words. Of the three books I have read on West, this was the best but I feel there could be a better study of West done.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very interesting biography of Mae West written by an author who interviewed West extensively near the end of her life. Mae West was a feminist before the word was invented, and a very racy character, who created herself an image based on sex that she always upheld in public. The book covers Mae's entire life from her parents up to and including her death in 1980. Mae lived through most of the 20th century and is a legend today for her risque work both on the stage and as a playwright and her movies that pushed the boundaries of 1930s/40s morals. Mae had a way of saying the tamest thing in such a sexy way it became a double entendre.While a biography, the book is almost completely written in Mae's own words quoted extensively from interviews with the author and also from a few of her contemporaries such as George Cukor. The author interjects with her own narrative briefly here and there to make a cohesive narrative. I found the book extremely interesting. I love this time period of Hollywood. Though I must say Ms. West does come across as egocentric and narcissistic which surprised me not really knowing anything about the woman herself. One thing I very much enjoyed was every time a play or movie was mentioned the author included a brief synopsis of the plot and since many of these, especially the plays, were unknown to me it was very interesting indeed. I wonder if a book of Mae West's plays has ever been published... I'd certainly like to read them. The author has written plenty of other biographies on actors/directors of the golden age of Hollywood and I will look out for them in the future. While I always prefer to read auto-biographies, what I look for biographies is an author who respects the subject and doesn't dish dirt nor come up with all sorts of wild (unprovable) theories. Charlotte Chandler has most certainly lived up to my expectations of a good biographer.