Price of Fame

June 9, 2014
In this lively second volume by Morris (Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce), Luce (1903-1987), the playwright and wife of Time magazine founder Henry R. Luce, becomes a politician, right-wing firebrand, and feminist pioneer. Morris follows Luce from her election to Congress in 1942, to her service as Eisenhower's ambassador to Italy, to her enduring role as one of America's most vehement and sought-after conservative commentators. Morris's shrewd portrait shows a woman of extraordinary contrasts: a celebrated beauty and wit who inspired giddy love letters from generals; a sharp thinker and writer; a strident anti-Communist (who occasionally spouted anti-Semitic rants) who championed civil rights and Zionism; a manipulative charmer and fragile soul who sought refuge in Catholicism, LSD, and sleeping-pills. (The author paints Luce's relationship with Henry as one of history's great marital melodramas, full of mutual admiration, infidelity, and misery.) Morris, who once lived with Luce and had access to her diaries, evokes her subject's charisma without unduly succumbing to it; she presents a clear-eyed assessment of Luce's strong, egotistical personality that does full justice to this fascinating icon. Photos throughout. Agent: Wylie Agency.

June 1, 2014
The second volume in the life of a significant American figure.By the time she was 40, Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) had been an actress, Broadway playwright, war correspondent, managing editor of Vanity Fair and Republican congresswoman from Connecticut. Married to the enormously wealthy publisher Henry Luce (Life, Time, Sports Illustrated et al.), she went on to become the first woman ambassador (to Italy, appointed by Eisenhower) and, after her conversion to Catholicism, author of several books on religion. Luce held political views passionately: A fierce anti-communist, she was equally outspoken in support of civil rights for African-Americans. Morris (Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Booth Luce, 1997, etc.) earned Luce's trust and access to more than 460,000 items in the restricted Luce Collection at the Library of Congress. Blonde, beautiful and glamorous (Morris includes details about Luce's sumptuous wardrobe at every occasion), she took many lovers, with a special preference for men in uniform. Her "compulsion to charm" was, writes the author, "a drive more for devotion than sex. She wanted to conquer all comers, even though her interest in them could be short-lived." And conquer she did: Both men and women succumbed, with the notable exceptions of Harry Truman, who refused to receive her at the White House, and Cyrus Sulzberger, chief foreign correspondent of the New York Times, who "was appalled" by her "arrogant conceit" and "ruthlessly hard-boiled self-assurance." Luce's frenzied need to engage in all-consuming work was fueled by a daily round of stimulants and sedatives; she fell into black depressions and paranoia, especially if she felt rejected or ignored. Desperately, she needed to be the center of attention.Luce once contracted to write her autobiography, which she planned to call The Dream of My Life. Morris perceptively reveals the nightmare in this evenhanded and intimate portrait.

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August 1, 2014

Clare Boothe Luce (1903-87) was elected to Congress in 1942, before she was 40 years old. She was the first woman appointed to a major ambassadorial position (Italy) and was married to the most influential publishing magnate of the 20th century. Before Luce's political career, she was a successful playwright and popular celebrity. An outspoken Republican and fervent anticommunist, she is almost forgotten today. Morris, who was given exclusive access to Luce's diaries and papers, published her first biographical volume of this remarkable woman's life (Rage for Fame) almost 20 years ago. It concluded with Luce's election to Congress. This long-awaited sequel tells about the political and personal events in the last half of the subject's life, thoroughly describing traumatic losses, romantic dalliances, and marital struggles that consumed both Luce and her husband for nearly all of their remaining years together. She was an indefatigable striver for attention and authority. Every president from Theodore Roosevelt to Gerald Ford met with Luce and received her unbridled opinion on any topic that interested her. She fearlessly took on new challenges and eagerly learned new skills--for example, she learned to scuba dive in her 50s after seeing a Jacques Cousteau documentary. VERDICT Readers who liked Rage for Fame and longed for more about this talented, determined woman will enjoy the full attention the author devotes to this work. Those interested in mid-century political history, too, will find much to reward their perseverance in this long but fascinating biography. [See Prepub Alert, 1/6/14.]--Jill Ortner, SUNY Buffalo Libs.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014

We've been waiting since 1997 to read a follow-up to Morris's highly regarded Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce, and here it is: a big tome that opens as the famed playwright and wife of Henry Luce enters the political arena, first as a member of the House of Representatives, then as the first woman given a major ambassadorship.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.