Sue Erikson Bloland, daughter of analyst Erik Erikson, explores with imaginative bravery her own struggles to survive and grow despite the irony of a childhood that lacked adequate parenting, while her father and mother were being touted as the worldwide experts on parenting. Her father's breakthrough book was Childhood and Society (Erikson, 1950).

In the Shadow of Fame is intriguing on two levels: First, it gives poignant insights into the life of one of the cultural icons of the twentieth century. Second, it explores the nature of fame in our society from a psychoanalytic perspective, and reveals how both society and the famous are served but also deceived. Many psychoanalysts or social critics might have written similar commentaries. This book, however, written by an observer from the inside, is so compelling that one achieves