She said she was a gorgeous, wealthy, well-connected model and student named Miranda, and she seduced a slew of famous and powerful men—Billy Joel, Warren Beatty, Ted Kennedy, Quincy Jones, Robert DeNiro, Bob Dylan, Buck Henry, Richard Gere, Eric Clapton, and many more—all of them over the phone. In the course of those long, flirtatious conversations some fell madly in love with her. Some became obsessed with her. Some had their hearts broken by her. And then she vanished. In the 12 years since bestselling author Bryan Burrough (Barbarians at the Gate, The Big Rich) first published his story "The Miranda Obsession" in Vanity Fair, the legend of Miranda has continued to grow and his article has become a true classic of the genre. On the heels of a just-aired prime-time Vanity Fair-CBS “48 Hours” special on enduring Hollywood mysteries, Burrough is republishing his story as an e-book, complete with a new Afterword that brings Miranda’s extraordinary tale up to date with the names of still more leading men who fell under her spell, from Bono to Rush Limbaugh. Writes “In 30 years in the field…I don’t think I’ve ever come across another [story] like it…. She has much to say about what men want, what men need, and how to keep a man coming back for more.”
Author
Bryan Burrough joined Vanity Fair in August 1992 and has been a special correspondent for the magazine since January 1995. He has reported on a wide range of topics, including the events that led to the war in Iraq, the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, and the Anthony Pellicano case. His profile subjects have included Sumner Redstone, Larry Ellison, Mike Ovitz, and Ivan Boesky. Prior to joining Vanity Fair, Burrough was an investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal. In 1990, with Journal colleague John Heylar, he co-authored Barbarians at the Gate (HarperCollins), which was No. 1 on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for 39 weeks. Burrough's other books include Vendetta: American Express and the Smearing of Edmund Safra (HarperCollins, 1992), Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir (HarperCollins, 1998); and Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34 (Penguin Press, 2004). Burrough is a three-time winner of the John Hancock Award for excellence in financial journalism. He lives in Summit, New Jersey with his wife Marla and their two sons.
