Caresse Crosby rejected the culturally prescribed roles of women of her era and background in search of an independent, creative, and socially responsible life. Poet, memoirist, advocate of women s rights and the peace movement, Crosby published and promoted modern writers and artists such as Hart Crane, Dorothy Parker, Salvador Dali, and Romare Bearden. She also earned a place in the world of fashion by patenting one of the earliest versions of the brassiere.

Behind her public success was a chaotic life: three marriages, two divorces, the suicide of Harry Crosby, strained relationships...