caroleb 's review for:

Vanity Fair's Women on Women by Radhika Jones, David Friend

4.0

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Vanity Fair editor in chief Radhika Jones has put together a compelling mix of essays written by women about women. The subjects are famous, but they represent a wide range of walks of life, from Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to legendary Hollywood actress Meryl Streep to former First Lady Michelle Obama and England's Queen Elizabeth II. The essays are divided into eight groups: The comedians, The White House, Society and Style, The Renegades, The Musicians, The House of Windsor, The Stars and Their Own Words, a final section of public figures engaged in self-reflection. What pulls them together and sets them apart from other celebrity profiles is what Jones herself characterizes as the "unflinching nature of the writer's gaze." Vanity Fair doesn't do light. They do deep dives with impeccable prose. They aren't breaking new ground here-- all of the essays were previously published in the magazine--but their insight and instincts as cultural observers are top tier.