Laurence Leamer Journalist Profile

Articles

12 New Non-Fiction Books You Need to Read in 2025

Jan 22, 2025 | newsini.com | Graydon Carter |Emily Callaci |Liz Pelly |Laurence Leamer

Put these new releases on your 2025 reading this. If reading more was your New Year’s resolution, but you haven’t cracked open a single book, look no further than our must-read non-fiction picks for 2025. These are some of the best new releases—a list that includes a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer’s reimagining of contemporary criticism and a kaleidoscopic retelling of Princess Diana’s real life and enduring legacy.
Truman Capote and Babe Paley - the society beauty he betrayed

Mar 29, 2024 | thetimes.co.uk | Laurence Leamer

Truman Capote’s so-called “swans” were the Manhattan It girls of their generation, society women whose elite inner circle the writer — best known for Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood — infiltrated, before betraying their secrets in a lurid and notorious article in Esquire magazine.
Where to Start With Truman Capote

Mar 13, 2024 | barnesandnoble.com | Isabelle McConville |Truman Capote |Laurence Leamer

Where to Start With Truman CapoteAre you a reader who argues for In Cold Blood as Capote’s masterpiece or are you Breakfast at Tiffany’s all the way? Are you obsessed with Feud: Capote vs. The Swans? As the series comes to a close you might find yourself hankering for more Capote — are you up for a binge read? From his astonishing debut novel to the unfinished manuscript that inspired the show itself, this is a collection of Capote we recommend for your TBR.
This Gentleman Preferred Blondes: A Fascinating Exploration of Alfred Hitchcock

Mar 1, 2024 | spectator.org | Laurence Leamer |Leonora Cravotta

Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark ObsessionBy Laurence Leamer (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 336 pages, $29)When I first heard about Laurence Leamer’s Hitchcock’s Blonds: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession, I was intrigued by the subject matter but had reservations about the premise.
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans - Serie - 2024

Feb 1, 2024 | decine21.com | Laurence Leamer |Jon Robin Baitz

Segunda entrega de la serie antológica Feud impulsada por Ryan Murphy, que muestra rivalidades surgidas en el mundo de las “celebrities”. Tras la que tenía como tema centra la relación entre Bette Davis y Joan Crawford, ahora llega ésta en que vemos cómo el encantador de serpientes que era Truman Capote en la vida social, acabó escaldando a sus “cisnes”, mujeres con el lustre de Barbara “Babe” Paley, Slim Keith –quien fuera esposa de Howard Hawks–, C.Z. Guest y Lee Radziwill.
Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession

Jan 24, 2024 | washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com | Laurence Leamer

“I suppose the first blonde who was a Hitchcock type was Madeleine Carroll.”– Alfred HitchcockYou may already know many of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous onscreen moments.
Ruffled Feathers: inside Truman Capote’s cold-blooded betrayal of his society swans as trailer for Feud: Capote vs. The Swans finally arrives

Jan 4, 2024 | tatler.com | Laurence Leamer

For years, Truman Capote had been proudly telling anyone within hearing that he was writing the ‘greatest novel of the age’. The book was about a group of the richest, most elegant women in the world. They were fictional, of course, but everyone knew these characters were based on his closest friends, the coterie of gorgeous, witty and fabulously rich women he called his ‘swans’.
The Baffling Cruelty of Alfred Hitchcock

Nov 10, 2023 | newyorkfolk.com | James White |Laurence Leamer

Anyone who’s ever watched an Alfred Hitchcock film—seen Tippi Hedren clawed to pieces by dozens of gulls and ravens or Janet Leigh repeatedly stabbed in the shower—would have to wonder about the director’s attitude toward women. When it came to his leading actresses, he was known to have walked a line between stringent and outright sadistic.
Win A Copy Of The Book 'Hitchcock's Blondes' By Laurence Leamer

Oct 11, 2023 | redcarpetcrash.com | Laurence Leamer

Alfred Hitchcock was fixated—not just on the dark, twisty stories that became his hallmark, but also by the blond actresses who starred in many of his iconic movies. The director of North by Northwest, Rear Window, and other classic films didn’t much care if they wore wigs, got their hair coloring out of a bottle, or were the rarest human specimen—a natural blonde—as long as they shone with a golden veneer on camera.
Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession

Oct 10, 2023 | citylights.com | Laurence Leamer

One of Entertainment Weekly's 41 New Fall Books We're Most Excited to Read One of CrimeReads' Most Anticipated Crime Reads of Fall 2023 One of PureWow's 9 Books We Can't Wait to Read in October "An important and enthralling story that will change not only the way we experience Hitch's movies but the way we view ourselves. It is a tale more disturbing than any Hitchcock film.