by Maureen Dowd
First published 2025
Pulitzer Prize winner Maureen Dowd turns her sharp eye on America's celebrity elite in this collection of her most memorable profiles. The New York Times columnist deploys wit as her primary weapon, cutting through the carefully constructed personas of cultural powerhouses. Her subjects span entertainment dynasties and corporate boardrooms alike. Hollywood luminaries including Uma Thurman, Jane Fonda, and Greta Gerwig face her penetrating questions. Leading men Paul Newman, Idris Elba, and Ralph Fiennes reveal themselves under her scrutiny. Comedy legends Tina Fey, Mel Brooks, and Larry David submit to her probing interviews. Fashion icons Andre Leon Talley, Ann Roth, and Tom Ford open their worlds to her investigation. Tech and media moguls Elon Musk, Bob Iger, and Peter Thiel endure her incisive commentary. Dowd's signature approach combines insider access with outsider perspective, creating portraits that capture both glamour and vulnerability. This compilation offers readers an escape from political turbulence through intimate glimpses of fame's inner workings.
Genres: non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, journalism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: outsider-perspective, probing-interviews
395 pages · Kindle Edition · Harper