Her father was Jewish; her mother was from a mostly Lutheran German family (and was of part-Jewish descent through her own grandfather).
[3] Mannes was an editor at Vogue and later wrote prolifically for the magazines The Reporter and The New Yorker.
Mannes published a number of books of essays, sharply and wittily critical of American society, including More in Anger: Some Opinions, Uncensored and Unteleprompted.
[4] Other books by Mannes included Subverse (1959), a satirical verse, Out of My Time (1971), an autobiography, and two novels, Message From a Stranger (1948) and They (1968).
Her first husband was Broadway scenic designer Jo Mielziner; they wed in 1926.