Acclaimed biographer Patricia Bosworth recalls her emotional coming of age in 1950s New York in this profound and powerful memoir, a story of family, marriage, tragedy, Broadway, and art, featuring a rich cast of well-known literary and theatrical figures from the period.
From Bosworth—acclaimed biographer of Montgomery Clift, Diane Arbus, Marlon Brando, and Jane Fonda—comes a series of vivid confessions about her remarkable journey into womanhood. This deeply-felt memoir is the story of a woman who defied repressive 1950s conventions while being shaped by the notable men in her life.
Born into privilege in San Francisco as the children of famous attorney Bartley Crum and novelist Gertrude, Patricia and her brother Bart Jr. lead charmed lives until their father’s career is ruined when he defends the Hollywood Ten. The family moves to New York, suffering greater tragedy when Bart Jr. kills himself. However, his loving spirit continues to influence Patricia as she fights to succeed as an actress and writer.
Married and divorced from an abusive husband before she’s twenty, she joins the famed Actors Studio. She takes classes with Lee Strasberg alongside Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and others; she works on Broadway opposite Paul Muni, Helen Hayes, and Elaine Stritch; Gore Vidal and Elia Kazan become her mentors. Her anecdotes of theatre’s Golden Age have never been told before. At the zenith of her career, about to film The Nun’s Story with Audrey Hepburn, Patricia faces a decision that changes her forever.
The Men in My Life is about survival, achieving your goals, and learning to love. It’s also the story of America’s most culturally pivotal era, told through the lens of one insider’s extraordinary life.

The Men in My Life: A Memoir of Love and Art in 1950s Manhattan

Bosworth, Patricia

Parenting & Relationships

Harper

Humor & Entertainment

Harper Paperbacks

Here it is the real thing inside Montgomery Clift. I've known other actors as well, but none with such a harrowing tale. I kept wondering, could Patricia Bosworth have been there? Everywhere? The book is that vivid and intimate. Elia Kazan

Montgomery Clift: A Biography

Biographies & Memoirs

Harcourt, Brace. Jovanovich

Arts & Literature

Sidg. & J

From moody Omaha teenager to Method-trained star with the face of a poet to eccentric recluse in his later years, Marlon Brando offers a penetrating look at Brando's evolving persona and legendary roles: the volcanic Stanley Kowalski of A Streetcar Named Desire, the sensitive rebel of The Wild Ones, and the iconic Don Corleone of The Godfather. He achieved unparalleled critical acclaim for his many memorable characters. Bosworth probes the influence of Brando's alcoholic parents on his acting, his decades of psychoanalysis, and his tumultuous personal relationships. Here, from rebellious unknown to reluctant idol to falling star, is the complex, charismatic genius who changed the face of acting. Patricia Bosworth is an acclaimed biographer whose work includes A Portrait of Montgomery Clift, praised by Newsweek as 'the best film star biography in years.' Her firsthand knowledge of the entertainment industry infuses her writing with an intimacy and vividness that The Washington Post Book World calls 'extraordinary.' In Marlon Brando she evokes the magnetic sexuality, passion, and vulnerability of the icon and the man.

Marlon Brando (Lives)

Weidenfeld&Nicolson

Details the ups and downs, vision, and work of the influential and controversial photographer, drawing precise correspondences between the life and the work

Diane Arbus

Arts & Photography

Individual Artists

Avon/Books

Diane Arbus's startling photographic images of dwarfs, twins, transvestites, and freaks seemed from the first to redefine both the normal and the abnormal in our lives; they were already becoming part of the iconography of the age when Arbus committed suicide in 1971. Arbus herself remained an enigma until the publication of this first full biography. Patricia Bosworth examines the life behind the eerie, mesmerizing photographs: Diane's pampered childhood; her passionate marriage to Allan Arbus and their work together as fashion photographers during the fifties; the emotional upheaval surrounding the end of that marriage; and the radically dark, liberating, and ultimately tragic turn Diane's art took during the sixties. Bosworth's engrossing book is a compassionate portrait of the woman behind some of the most powerful photographs of our time.

Diane Arbus: A Biography

Alfred.A. Knopf

Bosworth goes behind the image of an American superwoman, revealing Jane Fonda—more powerful and vulnerable than ever expected—whose struggles for high achievement, love, and successful motherhood mirror the conflicts of a generation of women. 
In the hands of this seasoned, tenacious biographer, the evolution of one of the century’s most controversial and successful women becomes nothing less than a great, enthralling American life.
Jane Fonda emerged from a heartbreaking Hollywood family drama to become a ’60s onscreen ingénue and then an Oscar-winning actress. At the top of her game she risked all, rising against the Vietnam War and shocking the world with a trip to Hanoi. Later, while becoming one of Hollywood’s most committed feminists, she financed her husband Tom Hayden’s political career in the ’80s with exercise videos that began a fitness craze and brought in millions of dollars. Just as interesting is Fonda’s next turn, as a Stepford Wife of the Gulfstream set, marrying Ted Turner and seemingly walking away from her ideals and her career.
Fonda’s is a story of the blend of deep insecurity, magnetism, bravery, and determination that fuels the most inspiring and occasionally infuriating public lives. Finally here is Fonda and all the women she’s been.

Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman

Houghton, mifflin, harcourt

“An irresistible biography of the accomplished, controversial actress whose roles on screen and off helped define a generation. Whether you love Jane Fonda or abhor her, Jane Fonda is a detailed and generous exploration not only of the contradictory world Fonda grew up in but of the many people who shaped her.” —Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle Patricia Bosworth has gone beyond the image of an American superwoman to reveal a Jane Fonda more powerful and vulnerable than ever expected. Fonda emerged from a heartbreaking Hollywood family drama to become a ’60s onscreen ingénue and then an Oscar-winning actress. At the top of her game she risked all, rising up against the Vietnam War and shocking the world with a trip to Hanoi. While becoming one of Hollywood’s most committed feminists, she financed her husband Tom Hayden’s political career in the ’80s with exercise videos that began a fitness craze and brought in millions of dollars. Just as interesting is Fonda’s next turn, as a Stepford Wife of the Gulfstream set, marrying Ted Turner and seemingly walking away from her ideals and her career. Fonda’s multilevel story is a blend of the deep insecurity, magnetism, bravery, and determination that has fueled her inspiring and occasionally infuriating public life. “The definitive portrait of a woman conflicted, torn between ferocious ambition, family, and feminist causes.” —Gail Sheehy, author of Passages “The Private Life does Jane Fonda the service of making us remember why she was relevant in the first place: the movies. Bosworth’s thorough account of this wild, uniquely twentieth-century Hollywood life makes Jane Fonda the actress even more intriguing.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Mariner Books

The highly acclaimed biographer of Montgomery Clift turns the light on Marlon Brando, exploring the sexuality, passion, and sensitivity that fueled this film icon's rise to superstardom. 20,000 first printing.

Marlon Brando (Penguin Lives)

VIKING

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bosworth, Patricia. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Bosworth, Patricia

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Bosworth, Patricia. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Men in My Life: A Memoir of Love and Art in 1950s Manhattan

The Men in My Life: A Memoir of Love and Art in 1950s Manhattan

Montgomery Clift: A Biography

Montgomery Clift: A Biography

Marlon Brando (Lives)

Diane Arbus

Diane Arbus: A Biography

Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman

Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman

Marlon Brando (Penguin Lives)