Joanna Scutts is a freelance writer based in Astoria, New York. She has written book reviews, author profiles, and cultural criticism for several print and online publications, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Review of Books, Kirkus Reviews, Open Letters Monthly, The Millions, and Biographile. She holds a PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and teaches writing at NYU’s Gallatin School.
The Hollywood gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, born Lily Shiel, shaped herself out of nothing much, and she knew it. As her eight memoirs attest, she also knew how remarkable the…