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

Patricia Bosworth recalls her coming of age in 1950s New York in this memoir about family, marriage, tragedy, Broadway, and art, featuring literary and theatrical figures from the period. Born into privilege in San Francisco as the daughter of attorney Bartley Crum and novelist Gertrude, Patricia and her brother Bart Jr. lead charmed lives until their father's career is damaged when he defends the Hollywood Ten. The family moves to New York, where Bart Jr. dies by suicide. Patricia pursues acting and writing, joining the Actors Studio to study with Lee Strasberg alongside Marilyn Monroe and Paul Newman. She performs on Broadway opposite Paul Muni, Helen Hayes, and Elaine Stritch, and works with mentors Gore Vidal and Elia Kazan. Married and divorced from an abusive husband before age twenty, Patricia navigates her career through theatre's Golden Age. At the height of her career, preparing to film The Nun's Story with Audrey Hepburn, she faces a decision that alters her life's trajectory. The memoir explores survival, achieving goals, learning to love, and America's culturally pivotal era through one insider's extraordinary life.