Ms. Wright chronicles Mamie’s competitive entertaining with some sympathy as well as a nice irony ... Irreverent humor and careful excavation of newspaper archives ... It has the light (very light) touch of some of her previous titles, dealing with such topics as the worst plagues and the worst breakups in history, without the substance of her recent biography of Madame Restell, the 19th-century New York abortionist. For those who love eye-popping accounts of events like the recent Bezos-Sánchez wedding in Venice, this book will be catnip.
Charming ... Wright creates a compelling snapshot of Fish’s era, and her humorous asides work well given the subject ... Wright’s biography reads as an honest depiction of a layered individual.
