Kitty Kelley
Kitty Kelley is an internationally acclaimed writer, whose bestselling biographies focus on some of the most influential and powerful personalities of the last 50 years. Kelley’s last five biographies have been number one on the New York Times best seller list, including her most recent, Oprah: A Biography.
Kelley is also the author of Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the Kennedys and Let Freedom Ring: Stanley Tretick’s Iconic Images of the March on Washington.
Known for her exhaustive research and the years dedicated to each biography subject, Kelley’s His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra was called “the most eye-opening celebrity biography of our time” by William Safire of the New York Times. She has been honored by her peers with such accolades as the 2005 PEN Oakland Censorship Award and the Outstanding Author Award and Founders’ Award for Career Achievement from the American Society of Journalists and Authors for her “courageous writing on popular culture.” Kelley received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Washington Independent Review of Books and the Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club of New York City. She was also selected by Vanity Fair magazine for its Hall of Fame as part of the “Media Decade” and, in 2023, received the Biographers International Organization’s BIO Award, which is given annually to a writer who has made major contributions to the advancement of the art and craft of biography.
In 1993, Brandeis University National Women’s committee established a major book collection at the university in her honor. That same year, she was invited to debate at Oxford University; the premise: “This House Believes That Men Are Still More Equal Than Women.” She led her team to a 143-78 victory. In 1998, she spoke to the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University on the subject “Public Figures: Are Their Private Lives Fair Game for the Press?” In 1999, the University of Washington named Kelley as one of 100 of “The Most Famous, Fascinating and Influential Alumni of the Past 100 Years.”
Kelley has generously advanced a number of important humanitarian causes, with a particular emphasis on literacy and press freedoms. In 1987, she was honored with the Phillip M. Stern Award for her “Outstanding service to writers and the writing profession.”
A longtime resident of Georgetown in Washington, DC, Kelley began as a press assistant to a U.S. senator, then worked for two years as the editorial page researcher for the Washington Post. As an active member of the DC community, she was named one of the most influential people in private Washington by Regardie’s magazine in an article entitled “The Power Elite” and one of the 20 “Georgetowners of the Century” by the Georgetowner newspaper.
Kelley has worked as a full-time freelance writer for more than 30 years. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Ladies Home Journal, the New Republic, McCall’s, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the American Scholar. She is also a member of the Independent’s board of directors.
See “Unauthorized But Not Untrue,” by Kitty Kelley. The American Scholar, Winter 2011.
138 entries by Kitty Kelley
Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton
By Martha Ackmann
We will always love her.
The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation
By Jim Clyburn (the Ninth)
The esteemed South Carolina lawmaker honors his predecessors.
John Lewis
By David Greenberg
A towering figure is given the stellar biography he deserves.
History Matters
By David McCullough; edited by Dorie McCullough Lawson and Michael Hill
The celebrated late historian’s advice to writers.
After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart
By Megan Marshall
A master biographer tells her own poignant story.
Baldwin: A Love Story
By Nicholas Boggs
This superb biography is more than worthy of its larger-than-life subject.
Recalling a long-ago safe haven for creative ladies.
Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir
By Jeffrey Seller
How a queer Jewish pauper rose to dominate the Great White Way.
Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free
By Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson
Meet the most influential clothier you’ve never heard of.
Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television
By Todd S. Purdum
He loved Lucy — and the small screen.
The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood
By Matthew Specktor
All that glitters is gold for a Tinseltown writer.
An Unfinished Love Story
By Doris Kearns Goodwin
An exquisite ode to a pivotal decade in America.
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
By Russell Shorto
Recalling the century that birthed the Big Apple.
Yoko: A Biography
By David Sheff
The artist was always so much more than Mrs. John Lennon.
Fearless and Free: A Memoir
By Josephine Baker; translated by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis
Raw, sometimes incendiary reminiscences from the late sui generis chanteuse.
Memorial Days: A Memoir
By Geraldine Brooks
This poignant book on grief ultimately teaches gladness.
Our Jackie draws dubious conclusions from Mrs. Kennedy’s endless press.
Dorothy Parker in Hollywood
By Gail Crowther
There was no glamour and little glitz in the famed humorist’s Tinseltown years.
John Lewis: A Life
By David Greenberg
A towering figure is given the stellar biography he deserves.
Five women whose work ignited an American art movement.
August Wilson
By Patti Hartigan
This biography’s brilliance approaches that of its subject.
A tour-de-force look at the doyennes of designer couture.
The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage
By Jonathan Turley
A Trump apologist values at least some of the U.S. Constitution.
The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President
By Edward F. O’Keefe
The swaggering leader owed much to the ladies in his life.
George Saunders reflects on the Georgetown cemetery where his iconic first novel is set.
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
By Doris Kearns Goodwin
An exquisite ode to a pivotal decade in America.
The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians
By Carlos Lozada
A witty, mostly winning compilation of the columnist’s previous work.
Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York
By Barbara Weisberg
An excessively detailed, not-so-titillating tale of 19th-century Manhattan.
The Counterfeit Countess: The Jewish Woman Who Rescued Thousands of Poles During the Holocaust
By Elizabeth B. White and Joanna Sliwa
A fake aristocrat offered real salvation in WWII.
After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself?
By Ed Owens
A brash young author offers dubious advice to the crown.
Listen, World!
By Julia Scheeres and Allison Gilbert
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Meet an early-20th-century feminist who blazed her own trail.
The Postcard delivers an immeasurable gift to readers.
Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt
By Charlotte Gray
An able corrective to the notion that great men are self-made.
Letters for the Ages: The Private and Personal Letters of Sir Winston Churchill
Edited by James Drake and Allen Packwood
An edifying peek at what “Winny” wrote behind the scenes.
Saving Freud
By Andrew Nagorski
A riveting saga that belongs on the silver screen.
August Wilson: A Life
By Patti Hartigan
This biography’s brilliance approaches that of its subject.
My Place in the Sun
By George Stevens Jr.
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Meet a fortunate son genuinely grateful for his luck.
Taking Things Hard: The Trials of F. Scott Fitzgerald
By Robert R. Garnett
Analyzing the author via his lesser-known stories.
Ma and Me
By Putsata Reang
A queer Cambodian American woman grapples with being disowned.
King: A Life
By Jonathan Eig
Separating the man from the myth.
An audacious, true tale of fleeing the South.
The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village
By Stephen G. Rabe
Honoring the heroes of a little-known episode from WWII.
John Lewis: The Last Interview
Introduction by Jelani Cobb
The late congressman’s star continues to shine.
Confessions: A Life of Failed Promises
By A.N. Wilson
A literary critic admits his shortcomings.
Shirley Hazzard: A Writing Life
By Brigitta Olubas
An entertaining, edifying look at the underappreciated Australian author.
Listen, World! How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman
By Julia Scheeres and Allison Gilbert
Meet an early-20th-century feminist who blazed her own trail.
Saving Freud: The Rescuers Who Brought Him to Freedom
By Andrew Nagorski
A riveting saga that belongs on the silver screen.
My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington
By George Stevens Jr.
Meet a fortunate son genuinely grateful for his luck.
An edifying, bloated chronicle of what might’ve been.
The Summer Friend: A Memoir
By Charles McGrath
A heartfelt, guarded ode to a seasonal pal.
Ma and Me: A Memoir
By Putsata Reang
A queer Cambodian American woman grapples with being disowned.
Sonia Purnell’s Clementine gives Winston’s formidable wife her due.
The Age of Acrimony
By Jon Grinspan
Recalling a turbulent time in U.S. history that bears an uncanny resemblance to today.
Following Martin Luther King’s footsteps from Atlanta to Memphis.
George Soros: A Life in Full
By Peter L.W. Osnos
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An uneven look at an extraordinary man.
The Barbizon
By Paulina Bren
This otherwise informative history is hamstrung by its fixation on Sylvia Plath’s notorious suicide.
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Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys shines a light on an insidious evil.
Home/Land: A Memoir of Departure and Return
By Rebecca Mead
A British expat reclaims her roots.
Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness
By Laura Coates
A former officer of the court reveals that justice is hardly blind.
Manifesto: On Never Giving Up
By Bernardine Evaristo
The Booker Prize-winning author owes it all to tenacity. And talent.
The former museum director talks controversy, free speech, and Rudy Giuliani.
John Lewis: The Last Interview and Other Conversations
Introduction by Jelani Cobb
The late congressman’s star continues to shine.
The foreign-policy expert sees parallels between her lower-class roots and the hurdles facing today’s workers.
Mark Perry’s 2004 biography expertly captures the bond between two American icons.
An instructive but dry treatise on a grim subject.
Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South
By Margaret Renkl
A longtime Tennessean considers her homeland in this sharp-eyed essay collection.
First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents
By Gary Ginsberg
Presidential pals finally get their due in this rollicking read.
Blind Man’s Bluff: A Memoir
By James Tate Hill
A young man loses his sight, but not his vision, in this excellent new work.
The American Story
By David M. Rubenstein
This compelling compilation looks at some of the pivotal figures who shaped our nation.
The Story I Am
By Roger Rosenblatt
The acclaimed author and essayist mines his personal oeuvre in this winning compilation.
The longtime journalist talks Nancy Pelosi, AOC, and how she got Newt Gingrich to blurb her new book.
Recalling a turbulent time in U.S. history that bears an uncanny resemblance to today.
The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free
By Paulina Bren
This otherwise informative history is hamstrung by its fixation on Sylvia Plath’s notorious suicide.
Its grim subject matter aside, Maggie O’Farrell’s gripping memoir cements her place among the finest writers working today.
Widowish: A Memoir
By Melissa Gould
A young woman struggles with the loss of her husband and the category it suddenly puts her in.
With searing honesty, a retired soldier/professor comes to terms with his lifelong worship of a traitor.
Henry Adams in Washington: Linking the Personal and Public Lives of America’s Man of Letters
By Ormond Seavey
Though fact-filled, this biography does strangely little to reveal the private man behind the public persona.
The bestselling author/linguist’s debut memoir centers on her beloved late father.
1957: The Year that Launched the American Future
By Eric Burns
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A densely written, fact-packed account of a pivotal period in U.S. history.
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How a decades-old memoir and a brand-new fellowship both celebrate Black women and Black writers.
How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers
By David M. Rubenstein
This compendium of highfalutin advice is well presented, if not terribly compelling.
Reaganland: America’s Right Turn 1976-1980
By Rick Perlstein
A wide-ranging, witty account of the political climate that ushered in the Gipper.
Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own
By Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
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A impassioned corrective to “the lie” at the center of our country’s foundation.
The journalist discusses leprosy, social demonization, and the family secret that inspired her new book.
The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life
By Alex Trebek
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The beloved game-show host’s new book chronicles his unquestionably happy journey.
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A devastating early memoir that spoke the truth about slavery.
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Reevaluating Mary Todd Lincoln through a feminist lens.
Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Home Run Revolution
By Jared Diamond
Chronicling the rise of the Moneyball Generation.
The Story I Am: Mad About the Writing Life
By Roger Rosenblatt
The acclaimed author and essayist mines his personal oeuvre in this winning compilation.
Pelosi
By Molly Ball
How “No Nonsense Nancy” became the most powerful woman in Washington.
The Moment of Tenderness
By Madeleine L’Engle
This collection of the famed author's early stories seems heartfelt, if ill-considered.
Corey Robin’s The Enigma of Clarence Thomas explores the life of an oft-perplexing jurist.
Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best
By Neal Bascomb
This accounting of an iconic 1938 race recaps every twist and turn, for better or worse.
Doing Justice
By Preet Bharara
A fascinating look at all things legal from the former head of the SDNY.
The Lost Diary of M: A Novel
By Paul Wolfe
This fictionalized account of one of JFK’s real-life lovers will delight Camelot buffs and gossip hounds alike.
In the Land of Men: A Memoir
By Adrienne Miller
An editor reflects on her time spent at Esquire — and in thrall to David Foster Wallace.
The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties
By Christopher Caldwell
Solid writing and research aside, this jeremiad about our changing national landscape reveals the author’s bitterness.
Rising out of Hatred
By Eli Saslow
A sobering account of one young man's journey toward the light.
The American Story: Conversations with Master Historians
By David M. Rubenstein
This compelling compilation looks at some of the pivotal figures who shaped our nation.
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement
By Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey
Untangling Harvey Weinstein's web of deceit.