[1] Her work includes biographies of Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo as well as the textbook Women in Modern America: A Brief History.
In 1983, she released American Beauty about which scholar Ann Douglas of Columbia University wrote: "Banner is alert to several interesting aspects of the story that she chronicles.
… Banner turns to African American women for positive middle-aged and elder role models in a study that helps set the historical record straight.”[3] Banner later wrote about the intellectual history of the United States and anthropology's place in that story with her 2003 book Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Their Circle: "By focusing on the interplay of Benedict, Mead, their husbands, friends, lovers, and protégés, [Banner] takes readers well beyond the two women’s published work and shows the genesis of their thoughts on human plasticity, diversity, potential, configurations, and patterns, all pearls on a string of shared ideas.
"[4] In Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox she focused on the iconic American actress with an unusual angle: “Banner is less interested in definitively collapsing the poles than in teasing out the contradictions and underlying motives of a complex character.
[6][7] At 84 years old, Banner made racist public comments at the 2023 Berkshire conference that resulted in condemnation from the audience and on social media.