The Idol of Paris

A young singer is taken up by Paris, made an idol, and then dropped — a novel about fame written by the woman who had more of it than anyone alive. Bernhardt was the Divine Sarah: she slept in a coffin, kept a cheetah, toured America nine times, had a leg amputated at seventy and went on acting. She knew exactly what a public does to the person it adores, and this book says so.