Lee Israel made her living in the 1970s and 1980s profiling the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estee Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. Though Lee Israel has undeniable profiling skills, her work has grown stale and hackneyed, rendering her profession unnecessary and insignificant. Now in times of financial hardship, Israel must find other ways to make a living. With assistance from her steadfast friend, Jack, the two endeavor...

"After leaving graduate school to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, Joanna gets hired as an assistant to Margaret, the stoic and old-fashioned literary agent of J. D. Salinger. Fluctuating between poverty and glamour, she spends her days in a plush, wood-paneled office ... and her nights in a Brooklyn apartment with her socialist boyfriend. Joanna's main task is processing Salinger's voluminous fan mail, but as she reads the heart-wrenching letters...