Overview
The long-awaited follow-up to Rage for Fame- The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce, Price of Fame tells the story of the full flowering of the life of an American icon- the beautiful, brilliant, tormented and ambitious Clare Boothe Luce. ""I hope I shall have ambition until the day I die,"" Clare Boothe Luce told her biographer Sylvia Jukes Morris. Price of Fame, the concluding volume of the life of an exceptionally brilliant polymath, chronicles Luce's progress from her arrival on Capitol Hill through her career as a diplomat, prolific journalist, and magnetic public speaker, as well as a playwright, screenwriter, pioneer scuba diver, early experimenter in psychedelic drugs, and grande dame of the GOP in the Reagan era. Tempestuously married to Henry Luce, the powerful publisher of Time Inc., she endured his infidelities while pursuing her own, and remained a practiced vamp well into her crowded later years, during which she strengthened her friendships with Winston Churchill, Somerset Maugham, John F. Kennedy, Evelyn Waugh, Lyndon Johnson, Salvador Dali, Richard Nixon, William F. Buckley, Ronald Reagan, and countless other celebrities. Sylvia Jukes Morris is the only writer to have had complete access to Mrs. Luce's prodigious collection of public and private papers. In addition, she had unique access to her subject, whose death at eighty-four ended a life that for variety of accomplishment qualifies Clare Boothe Luce for the title of ""Woman of the Century."" Praise for Price of Fame ""The twentieth-century history of this country, seen through the eyes and actions of a remarkable woman . . . one of the most fabulous, intimate biographies I have ever read.""-Liz Smith, Chicago Tribune ""The epic Price of Fame is a thrilling account of one of the twentieth century's most intriguing and ambitious society figures.""-Amanda Foreman, bestselling author of Georgiana- Duchess of Devonshire ""Delicious . . . In Price of Fame . . . Sylvia Jukes Morris takes up the story she began in Rage for Fame. . . . Both books are models of the biographer's art-meticulously researched, sophisticated, fair-minded and compulsively readable.""-Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal ""Clare Boothe Luce was one of the twentieth century's most ambitious, unstoppable and undeniably ingenious characters. . . . This full, warts-and-all biography hauls her back into the limelight and does her full justice.""-Janet Maslin, The New York Times ""Poignant and profound . . . nothing short of a triumph.""-Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, The Washington Times ""Compelling . . . a brilliant biography.""-Peter Tonguette, The Christian Science Monitor
Reviews
Throughout her life she had aimed for the best of everything and usually gotten it, Sylvia Jukes Morris writes. . . . Clare Boothe Luce was an actress-editrix-playwright-screenwriter-congresswoman-ambassador-presidential adviser. And as the wife of Henry Luce, father of the Time empire, she was the clever half of the predominant power couple of the mid-twentieth century. Maureen Dowd, The New York Times Book Review In Price of Fame, the second volume of her stellar biography of [Luce], Sylvia Jukes Morris takes up the story she began in Rage for Fame, published 17 years ago. Both books are models of the biographer s art meticulously researched, sophisticated, fair-minded and compulsively readable. Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal Sylvia Jukes Morris s brilliant biography . . . tracks the last half of its subject s life with dexterity. . . . Luce was as serious about her faith as she was about civil rights. But Morris never lets us forget that she was also a wit par excellence. . . . Read the gems sprinkled throughout Price of Fame. Peter Tonguette, The Christian Science Monitor There s a thrilling kind of energy in watching this ruthlessly self-made life take shape, an energy that is matched and reversed in Price of Fame, as celebrity just as ruthlessly takes its toll. Joanna Scutts, The Washington Post Morris s cool portrait is eminently fair, depicting Luce s faults and fine points with equal detachment. Wendy Smith, The Daily Beast Clare Boothe Luce [was] one of the twentieth century s most ambitious, unstoppable and undeniably ingenious characters. . . . This full, warts-and-all biography hauls her back into the limelight and does her full justice. Janet Maslin, The New York Times It is the author s steady, sensitive handling of the material, told with humor and objectivity, that makes this biography so poignant and profound. . . . [Price of Fame] is nothing short of a triumph. Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, The Washington Times Morris s shrewd portrait shows a woman of extraordinary contrasts. . . . She presents a clear-eyed assessment of Luce s strong, egotistical personality. Publishers Weekly With this second and concluding volume of her biography of Clare Boothe Luce, Sylvia Jukes Morris completes the tantalizing saga of a woman who helped define the pushy broad in a century when men made the rules. . . . The result is an impeccably researched and thoughtfully written epic that crackles with the energy that defined her subject. Amy Henderson, The Weekly Standard Beauty was an asset Clare Boothe Luce used to her political (and financial) advantage. But so, too, were the other characteristics summed up by Sylvia Jukes Morris. . .: charm, humour, coquetry, intellect, ambition. [She was] a woman gifted with intelligence and drive, but marred by narcissism and scarred by a constant sense of loneliness. There is a moving account of Luce s conversion to Catholicism and a persuasive analysis of her role as ambassador to Rome in resolving the post-war status of Trieste. The Economist Morris, who was given exclusive access to Luce s diaries and papers, published her first biographical volume of this remarkable woman s life [in 1997]. 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. . . . 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. Library Journal If Clare Boothe Luce, with her lowly origins and blinding ambition, hadn t existed, she might have sprung fully formed from the imagination of Henry James. . . . Sylvia Jukes Morris has written [a] clear-eyed account of this complicated and self-contradictory figure, one who had everything a person could wish for and still experienced great unhappiness. . . . This is a fascinating, close-up look at a woman whose prodigious gifts were used in the service of her appetites for wealth, fame, and power . . . a stylish striver whose blond ambition has not yet been matched in its scope by any woman who has come after her. Daphne Merkin, BookForum Believe me, the good stuff is here, in this second volume. In dazzling, devastating spades. . . . What makes Price of Fame so riveting is that one literally doesn t know what to make of Clare Boothe Luce. . . . My jaw dropped over and over again. . . . Her soul was restless, unquiet. But despite dark moments of despair and the fact that many who knew her and loved her, found her essentially a tragic figure she carried a genuine life force. [Here] is one of the most fabulous, intimate biographies I have ever read. If you re interested in the twentieth-century history of this country, seen through the eyes and actions of a remarkable woman, this book is for you. If you crave tales of psychological unhingement amid the best of everything, you won t be disappointed either! Liz Smith, Chicago Tribune From the Hardcover edition.
'Throughout her life she had aimed for the best of everything and usually gotten it,' Sylvia Jukes Morris writes. . . . Clare Boothe Luce was an actress-editrix-playwright-screenwriter-congresswoman-ambassador-presidential adviser. And as the wife of Henry Luce, father of the Time empire, she was the clever half of the predominant power couple of the mid-twentieth century. -Maureen Dowd, The New York Times Book Review In Price of Fame, the second volume of her stellar biography of [Luce], Sylvia Jukes Morris takes up the story she began in Rage for Fame, published 17 years ago. Both books are models of the biographer's art-meticulously researched, sophisticated, fair-minded and compulsively readable. -Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal Sylvia Jukes Morris's brilliant biography . . . tracks the last half of its subject's life with dexterity. . . . Luce was as serious about her faith as she was about civil rights. But Morris never lets us forget that she was also a wit par excellence. . . . Read the gems sprinkled throughout Price of Fame. -Peter Tonguette, The Christian Science Monitor There's a thrilling kind of energy in watching this ruthlessly self-made life take shape, an energy that is matched and reversed in Price of Fame, as celebrity just as ruthlessly takes its toll. -Joanna Scutts, The Washington Post Morris's cool portrait is eminently fair, depicting Luce's faults and fine points with equal detachment. -Wendy Smith, The Daily Beast Clare Boothe Luce [was] one of the twentieth century's most ambitious, unstoppable and undeniably ingenious characters. . . . This full, warts-and-all biography hauls her back into the limelight and does her full justice. -Janet Maslin, The New York Times It is the author's steady, sensitive handling of the material, told with humor and objectivity, that makes this biography so poignant and profound. . . . [Price of Fame] is nothing short of a triumph. -Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, The Washington Times Morris's shrewd portrait shows a woman of extraordinary contrasts. . . . She presents a clear-eyed assessment of Luce's strong, egotistical personality. -Publishers Weekly With this second and concluding volume of her biography of Clare Boothe Luce, Sylvia Jukes Morris completes the tantalizing saga of a woman who helped define the 'pushy broad' in a century when men made the rules. . . . The result is an impeccably researched and thoughtfully written epic that crackles with the energy that defined her subject. -Amy Henderson, The Weekly Standard Beauty was an asset Clare Boothe Luce used to her political (and financial) advantage. But so, too, were the other characteristics summed up by Sylvia Jukes Morris. . . : 'charm, humour, coquetry, intellect, ambition.' [She was] a woman gifted with intelligence and drive, but marred by narcissism and scarred by a constant sense of loneliness. There is a moving account of Luce's conversion to Catholicism and a persuasive analysis of her role as ambassador to Rome in resolving the post-war status of Trieste. -The Economist Morris, who was given exclusive access to Luce's diaries and papers, published her first biographical volume of this remarkable woman's life [in 1997]. 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. . . . 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. -Library Journal If Clare Boothe Luce, with her lowly origins and blinding ambition, hadn't existed, she might have sprung fully formed from the imagination of Henry James. . . . Sylvia Jukes Morris has written [a] clear-eyed account of this complicated and self-contradictory figure, one who had everything a person could wish for and still experienced great unhappiness. . . . This is a fascinating, close-up look at a woman whose prodigious gifts were used in the service of her appetites for wealth, fame, and power . . . a stylish striver whose blond ambition has not yet been matched in its scope by any woman who has come after her. -Daphne Merkin, BookForum Believe me, the 'good stuff' is here, in this second volume. In dazzling, devastating spades. . . . What makes Price of Fame so riveting is that one literally doesn't know what to make of Clare Boothe Luce. . . . My jaw dropped over and over again. . . . Her soul was restless, unquiet. But despite dark moments of despair-and the fact that many who knew her and loved her, found her essentially a tragic figure-she carried a genuine life force. [Here] is one of the most fabulous, intimate biographies I have ever read. If you're interested in the twentieth-century history of this country, seen through the eyes and actions of a remarkable woman, this book is for you. If you crave tales of psychological unhingement amid the best of everything, you won't be disappointed either! -Liz Smith, Chicago Tribune
'Throughout her life she had aimed for the best of everything and usually gotten it, ' Sylvia Jukes Morris writes. . . . Clare Boothe Luce was an actress-editrix-playwright-screenwriter-congresswoman-ambassador-presidential adviser. And as the wife of Henry Luce, father of the Time empire, she was the clever half of the predominant power couple of the mid-twentieth century. --Maureen Dowd, The New York Times Book Review In Price of Fame, the second volume of her stellar biography of [Luce], Sylvia Jukes Morris takes up the story she began in Rage for Fame, published 17 years ago. Both books are models of the biographer's art--meticulously researched, sophisticated, fair-minded and compulsively readable. --Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal Sylvia Jukes Morris's brilliant biography . . . tracks the last half of its subject's life with dexterity. . . . Luce was as serious about her faith as she was about civil rights. But Morris never lets us forget that she was also a wit par excellence. . . . Read the gems sprinkled throughout Price of Fame. --Peter Tonguette, The Christian Science Monitor There's a thrilling kind of energy in watching this ruthlessly self-made life take shape, an energy that is matched and reversed in Price of Fame, as celebrity just as ruthlessly takes its toll. --Joanna Scutts, The Washington Post Morris's cool portrait is eminently fair, depicting Luce's faults and fine points with equal detachment. --Wendy Smith, The Daily Beast Clare Boothe Luce [was] one of the twentieth century's most ambitious, unstoppable and undeniably ingenious characters. . . . This full, warts-and-all biography hauls her back into the limelight and does her full justice. --Janet Maslin, The New York Times It is the author's steady, sensitive handling of the material, told with humor and objectivity, that makes this biography so poignant and profound. . . . [ Price of Fame ] is nothing short of a triumph. --Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, The Washington Times Morris's shrewd portrait shows a woman of extraordinary contrasts. . . . She presents a clear-eyed assessment of Luce's strong, egotistical personality. -- Publishers Weekly With this second and concluding volume of her biography of Clare Boothe Luce, Sylvia Jukes Morris completes the tantalizing saga of a woman who helped define the 'pushy broad' in a century when men made the rules. . . . The result is an impeccably researched and thoughtfully written epic that crackles with the energy that defined her subject. --Amy Henderson, The Weekly Standard Beauty was an asset Clare Boothe Luce used to her political (and financial) advantage. But so, too, were the other characteristics summed up by Sylvia Jukes Morris. . .: 'charm, humour, coquetry, intellect, ambition.' [She was] a woman gifted with intelligence and drive, but marred by narcissism and scarred by a constant sense of loneliness. There is a moving account of Luce's conversion to Catholicism and a persuasive analysis of her role as ambassador to Rome in resolving the post-war status of Trieste. -- The Economist Morris, who was given exclusive access to Luce's diaries and papers, published her first biographical volume of this remarkable woman's life [in 1997]. 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. . . . 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. -- Library Journal If Clare Boothe Luce, with her lowly origins and blinding ambition, hadn't existed, she might have sprung fully formed from the imagination of Henry James. . . . Sylvia Jukes Morris has written [a] clear-eyed account of this complicated and self-contradictory figure, one who had everything a person could wish for and still experienced great unhappiness. . . . This is a fascinating, close-up look at a woman whose prodigious gifts were used in the service of her appetites for wealth, fame, and power . . . a stylish striver whose blond ambition has not yet been matched in its scope by any woman who has come after her. --Daphne Merkin, BookForum Believe me, the 'good stuff' is here, in this second volume. In dazzling, devastating spades. . . . What makes Price of Fame so riveting is that one literally doesn't know what to make of Clare Boothe Luce. . . . My jaw dropped over and over again. . . . Her soul was restless, unquiet. But despite dark moments of despair--and the fact that many who knew her and loved her, found her essentially a tragic figure--she carried a genuine life force. [Here] is one of the most fabulous, intimate biographies I have ever read. If you're interested in the twentieth-century history of this country, seen through the eyes and actions of a remarkable woman, this book is for you. If you crave tales of psychological unhingement amid the best of everything, you won't be disappointed either! --Liz Smith, Chicago Tribune From the Hardcover edition.
The twentieth-century history of this country, seen through the eyes and actions of a remarkable woman . . . one of the most fabulous, intimate biographies I have ever read. --Liz Smith, Chicago Tribune Sylvia Juke Morris's epic Price of Fame is a thrilling account of one of the twentieth century's most intriguing and ambitious society figures. This second installment is every bit as compelling as the first. The life of Clare Boothe Luce illuminates the complex forces and fierce crosswinds behind the rise of the modern American woman. --Amanda Foreman, bestselling author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire Delicious . . . In Price of Fame, the second volume of her stellar biography of Ann Clare Boothe Brokaw Luce (1903-87), Sylvia Jukes Morris takes up the story she began in Rage for Fame, published seventeen years ago. Both books are models of the biographer's art--meticulously researched, sophisticated, fair-minded and compulsively readable. --Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal Clare Boothe Luce [was] one of the twentieth century's most ambitious, unstoppable and undeniably ingenious characters. . . . This full, warts-and-all biography hauls her back into the limelight and does her full justice. --Janet Maslin, The New York Times Price of Fame continues the second half of [Clare Booth Luce's] amazing story, clearly capturing the successes and pathos of a narcissist infused with shame and self-hate. . . . A running theme throughout Clare's life is her shimmering sexuality--a lethal cocktail of luminosity, charm, intelligence and wit. . . . It is the author's steady, sensitive handling of the material, told with humor and objectivity, that makes this biography so poignant and profound. The author's skill at delving deep into sources was eventually rewarded by Clare herself, who confessed she felt closest to Ms. Morris 'because you know everything.' However, it is the late Librarian of Congress, Daniel Boorstin, who said it best: 'How often does it happen, ' he asked, 'this coming together of a great subject and an ideal biographer?' That observation beautifully applies to Price of Fame, and it is nothing short of a triumph. --Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, The Washington Times Compelling . . . [a] brilliant biography . . . After finishing Price of Fame: The Honorable Clare Boothe Luce, few readers will find a term as dull as 'The Honorable' to be befitting so spirited a personage. 'The Beguiling' or 'The Buoyant' would be more like it--or maybe, for the woman who negotiated both the boards of Broadway and political office, 'The Groundbreaking.' --Peter Tonguette, The Christian Science Monitor Fascinating . . . Clare Boothe Luce has a lot to answer for. As the grande dame of the Republican Party, she introduced Richard Nixon to Henry Kissinger at her 1967 Christmas cocktail party. As la belle dame sans merci of Manhattan's smart set, she took whatever she wanted from life without regard to moral consequences. . . . Luce's pathological need to invent and reinvent herself, her restless, acquisitive drive to conquer new worlds and her cascading calamities end up providing plenty of vivid material. --Maureen Dowd, The New York Times Book Review Vivid . . . There's a thrilling kind of energy in watching this ruthlessly self-made life take shape, an energy that is matched and reversed in Price of Fame, as celebrity just as ruthlessly takes its toll. . . . The biography offers a detailed picture of the evolution of U.S. politics and culture from World War II into the Reagan era. . . . In a culture where the rage for fame feels inescapable, [ Price of Fame ] might just help us to weigh its costs more accurately and count the blessings of obscurity. --Joanna Scutts, The Washington Post Exhaustively detailed (and well-written) . . . In her youth, Clare Boothe Luce was a Depression-era Carrie Bradshaw, a go-getting, sexually freewheeling quipster who reveled in the hustle and bustle of Manhattan; by World War II, she had degenerated into a modern-day Cersei Lannister, entitled, power-hungry and morally hypocritical. This sea change is one of the more memorable aspects of Price of Fame. . . . Morris chose her title well. Clare paid a heavy price for her fame. Whether she lost her soul after gaining the world, undoubtedly she suffered amid the splendor. --Ariel Gonzalez, The Miami Herald Moving . . . Beauty was an asset Clare Boothe Luce used to her political (and financial) advantage. But so, too, were the other characteristics summed up by Sylvia Jukes Morris in this second and final part of her exhaustive biography of one of the most remarkable women of twentieth-century America: 'charm, humour, coquetry, intellect, ambition.' . . . [Morris] had unparalleled access to her subject before Luce's death in 1987 and to her papers (all 460,000 of them) in the Library of Congress. The result is a portrait of a woman gifted with intelligence and drive, but marred by narcissism and scarred by a constant sense of loneliness. -- The Economist Raised by her mother to manipulate men and compete with women, Luce was fundamentally cold. Lovers were chosen for their looks or status; admirers were welcomed so long as they remained entirely admiring. . . . Narcissism, the need for an audience, and a willingness to use people are hardly uncommon traits in politicians, and it's to Luce's credit that she had enough empathy for others to be a staunch, early advocate of independence for European colonies abroad and full civil rights for African-Americans at home, positions not generally held by those who shared her hardline anticommunist views. . . . Morris's cool portrait is eminently fair, depicting Luce's faults and fine points with equal detachment. --Wendy Smith, The Daily Beast 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. . . . 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. -- Publishers Weekly 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. . . . 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. . . . Desperately, she needed to be the center of attention. . . . Morris perceptively reveals the nightmare in this evenhanded and intimate portrait. -- Kirkus Reviews From the Hardcover edition.
Sylvia Juke Morris's epic Price of Fame is a thrilling account of one of the twentieth century's most intriguing and ambitious society figures. This second installment is every bit as compelling as the first. The life of Clare Boothe Luce illuminates the complex forces and fierce crosswinds behind the rise of the modern American woman. --Amanda Foreman, bestselling author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire Delicious . . . In Price of Fame, the second volume of her stellar biography of Ann Clare Boothe Brokaw Luce (1903-87), Sylvia Jukes Morris takes up the story she began in Rage for Fame, published seventeen years ago. Both books are models of the biographer's art--meticulously researched, sophisticated, fair-minded and compulsively readable. --Edward Kosner, The Wall Street Journal Clare Boothe Luce [was] one of the twentieth century's most ambitious, unstoppable and undeniably ingenious characters. . . . This full, warts-and-all biography hauls her back into the limelight and does her full justice. --Janet Maslin, The New York Times Price of Fame continues the second half of [Clare Booth Luce's] amazing story, clearly capturing the successes and pathos of a narcissist infused with shame and self-hate. . . . A running theme throughout Clare's life is her shimmering sexuality--a lethal cocktail of luminosity, charm, intelligence and wit. . . . It is the author's steady, sensitive handling of the material, told with humor and objectivity, that makes this biography so poignant and profound. The author's skill at delving deep into sources was eventually rewarded by Clare herself, who confessed she felt closest to Ms. Morris 'because you know everything.' However, it is the late Librarian of Congress, Daniel Boorstin, who said it best: 'How often does it happen, ' he asked, 'this coming together of a great subject and an ideal biographer?' That observation beautifully applies to Price of Fame, and it is nothing short of a triumph. --Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, The Washington Times Compelling . . . [a] brilliant biography . . . After finishing Price of Fame: The Honorable Clare Boothe Luce, few readers will find a term as dull as 'The Honorable' to be befitting so spirited a personage. 'The Beguiling' or 'The Buoyant' would be more like it--or maybe, for the woman who negotiated both the boards of Broadway and political office, 'The Groundbreaking.' --Peter Tonguette, The Christian Science Monitor Fascinating . . . Clare Boothe Luce has a lot to answer for. As the grande dame of the Republican Party, she introduced Richard Nixon to Henry Kissinger at her 1967 Christmas cocktail party. As la belle dame sans merci of Manhattan's smart set, she took whatever she wanted from life without regard to moral consequences. . . . Luce's pathological need to invent and reinvent herself, her restless, acquisitive drive to conquer new worlds and her cascading calamities end up providing plenty of vivid material. --Maureen Dowd, The New York Times Book Review Vivid . . . There's a thrilling kind of energy in watching this ruthlessly self-made life take shape, an energy that is matched and reversed in Price of Fame, as celebrity just as ruthlessly takes its toll. . . . The biography offers a detailed picture of the evolution of U.S. politics and culture from World War II into the Reagan era. . . . In a culture where the rage for fame feels inescapable, [ Price of Fame ] might just help us to weigh its costs more accurately and count the blessings of obscurity. --Joanna Scutts, The Washington Post Exhaustively detailed (and well-written) . . . In her youth, Clare Boothe Luce was a Depression-era Carrie Bradshaw, a go-getting, sexually freewheeling quipster who reveled in the hustle and bustle of Manhattan; by World War II, she had degenerated into a modern-day Cersei Lannister, entitled, power-hungry and morally hypocritical. This sea change is one of the more memorable aspects of Price of Fame. . . . Morris chose her title well. Clare paid a heavy price for her fame. Whether she lost her soul after gaining the world, undoubtedly she suffered amid the splendor. --Ariel Gonzalez, The Miami Herald Moving . . . Beauty was an asset Clare Boothe Luce used to her political (and financial) advantage. But so, too, were the other characteristics summed up by Sylvia Jukes Morris in this second and final part of her exhaustive biography of one of the most remarkable women of twentieth-century America: 'charm, humour, coquetry, intellect, ambition.' . . . [Morris] had unparalleled access to her subject before Luce's death in 1987 and to her papers (all 460,000 of them) in the Library of Congress. The result is a portrait of a woman gifted with intelligence and drive, but marred by narcissism and scarred by a constant sense of loneliness. -- The Economist Raised by her mother to manipulate men and compete with women, Luce was fundamentally cold. Lovers were chosen for their looks or status; admirers were welcomed so long as they remained entirely admiring. . . . Narcissism, the need for an audience, and a willingness to use people are hardly uncommon traits in politicians, and it's to Luce's credit that she had enough empathy for others to be a staunch, early advocate of independence for European colonies abroad and full civil rights for African-Americans at home, positions not generally held by those who shared her hardline anticommunist views. . . . Morris's cool portrait is eminently fair, depicting Luce's faults and fine points with equal detachment. --Wendy Smith, The Daily Beast 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. . . . 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. -- Publishers Weekly 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. . . . 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. . . . Desperately, she needed to be the center of attention. . . . Morris perceptively reveals the nightmare in this evenhanded and intimate portrait. -- Kirkus Reviews From the Hardcover edition.
