5 comments about Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up.

1. Bob Colacello put all his unpublished Warhol writing projects into a cocktail shaker and added some ice. The result is this frothy, gossip ridden, whiskey sour. A 504 page, tall drink that doesn't get any sweeter as you suck it down. The anecdotes about Imelda Marcos, Truman Capote, Farah Diba make it seem like the 70's took place on another planet. It's a fun read and I laughed out loud quite a few times. But one get's the feeling that this book was written as revenge on Warhol for the social abuse that Colacello "suffered" during the years they worked together.



2. I didn't intend to reread this book, but I opened it while searching for an obscure New York address and didn't put it down again until I'd finished reading every page. When it first came out, I remember critics mostly tsk-tsking Colacello because they seemed to think he'd gotten to the place he was through Warhol and no doubt he did...What I failed to notice when the book was first published, was how Colacella and every single "Warhol" person who's written a book had a nervous breakdown as they were spinning (or trying to spin) out of his orbit. I want to read the book that tells WHY these intelligent creative people threw themselves so totally into Warhol's world...a world that couldn't have existed without them.....All I can say is, if your intent is to try and understand Warhol, then Bob Colacello's book is the absolute best take...besides yourself.



3. I did not intend to read this book. I read the first chapter because my wife told me to, and couldn't put it down. The book is like watching a train wreck. I kept hoping that somebody would stand up and inject some sanity into the lives of these people, but they just kept heading toward disaster and oblivion. While I found that the gossipy nature of the book get in the way of the story, I must admit that Bob Colacello made that time in that place seem both glamorous and horrible. I think it is worth a read, if for no other reason than to be able to sit back and say "I'm so glad my life isn't like that!".



4. I found this book on the shelf recently unread and found it, after the annoying first chapter on Bob quitting, a rather quick read for the length. While there are stories about famous people, I didn't find the tone mean and the stories about the famous people played to make them sound awful. A lot of time has passed since the book was written and certainly since the events described took place. The names of certain socialites discussed at length will mean nothing to most readers.
   
   In terms of the profile of Warhol, it's fairly rewarding in terms of how he managed people, his projects, how he operated socially and yes what some of his eccentric habits were. But once again, this is more 'tell it like it is' than bitter and negative.



5. This book is like a big box of candy--gossipy and chummy--compulsively readable and bittersweet.
   
   Colacello was a top Warhol insider--for a while--so he was in a good position to give us a first-hand account of what it was like. However he isnt an art critic or art historian, and he's not an artist. So don't expect a lot of analysis into Warhol's art.
   
   This book is more about what it was like to live and work with Andy Warhol. At least what it was like for Bob Colacello. For the most part Colcello seems to remember that and doesn't do a lot of sideline psychoanalysis...for the most part. He draws his conclusions, like the rest of us, and, like the rest of us, tells us probably more about himself than he does about Warhol.
   
   Other people are impossible to know. Probably the best we can do is report as directly as possible what we *see*--without commentary. What we see, all by itself, is commentary enough.
   
   Perhaps Warhol understood this better than any other major artist. It may very well be the key to his oeuvre--the films and paintings, the books and interviews that all seem to be about either nothing, or whatever one makes of them.
   
   It's a lesson that Colacello seems to have drawn from to write "Holy Terror," which is refreshingly free from a lot of the usual compromising motivations of first-person, I-was-there books of this sort: the judgment and self-aggrandizement of the author, and the demonizing of the (usually) dead and now voiceless and therefore defenseless subject.
   
   These sorts of books are usually written, to one degree or another, for revenge...and profit. Indeed, at the very end of this lengthy volume, Colacello acknowledges that his original purpose in writing *Holy Terror* was to "liberate" himself from Andy Warhol. Fortunately, this ulterior motive comes through only rarely, and mostly and most strongly in the concluding chapters, where Colacello tries to sum up Andy Warhol for us.
   
   Colacello has some axes to grind. He felt underappreciated by his boss, for whom he labored to the point of physical and psychological collapse, for thirteen years. He ghostwrote the books for which Warhol was given credit, made Warhol's "Interview" magazine a significant cultural signpost, and accompanied Warhol on what seems to have been a non-stop rollercoaster of all-night parties, openings, and get-togethers with the rich and famous. He served his boss as assistant, commissions pimp, social crutch, and, on many occasions, a shoulder to cry on. And all of this for relatively little financial reward--and even less recognition.
   
   On the other hand, Colacello does seem to remember--even if only in passing and primarily by implication--that without Warhol he and so many others who lived, worked, and complained about the artist would not be the chroniclers, critics, and footnotes to art history and American culture that they are.
   
   Warhol, who, according to Colacello, expressed himself primarily in a series of "gees, umms, oh reallys" comes out of this biographical autopsy relatively intact--by which I mean, pretty much as much of an enigma as before. And inasmuch as this is the case, it is to Colacello's credit.
   
   More than perhaps any other artist, Warhol was a blank screen. It's what he aspired to and what he to a large degree succeeded in achieving. He reflected the people and events around him. Peel the reflective part off a mirror or the paint off a canvas and what have you got?
   
   You cant get the answer you really want from Mona Lisa by asking her. Or by scraping away at her vague smile. There isnt anything underneath. That's the mystery, the horror, the beauty, the holy joke of it all.

1 comments about Andy Warhol Idea Book.

1. I bought it for a friend who needed a sketch book for all her wonderful designs, she loved it. Wonderful hard cover and great thick pages

2 comments about I'll Be Your Mirror: The Selected Andy Warhol Interviews.

1. First off, you will buy this book because you are a fan of Warhol and frankly you should buy it because it contains a lot of great stuff. I was super excited when I opened this book because I get a kick out of the thought that Warhol was often gently mocking (well, taunting certainly) us with his obtuse and oblique responses to his media questioners. The problem with not actually being able to see Warhol give these interviews is that it is impossible to know how much actually came from his own lips and how much was created to fit the agenda of the person writing or giving the interview. For instance, whenever Warhol was with one of his co-conspirators he often allowed that person to interject an answer to a question on his behalf. Also, many of these interviews were actually composed to fit a particular world view. For instance, Mr. Malanga's interview of Warhol reads like something that Mr. Malanga wrote, probably with Andy's approval, and then submitted for print. This is okay, but the really great stuff in an Andy Warhol interview is what actually issues from Andy accompanied by all of his funny mannerisms and quirks. This sometimes does come through in a number of interviews contained in this book, particularly ones given to novices and young men but too often the interviews read flat and almost textbook like. I don't want to turn you off to this book because I really believe that it is a worthwhile read. I just don't want you to expect too much so that you won't be disappointed.



2. Wouldn't it be nice to be so important as to warrant almost 400 pages of being interviewed ... which, for Warhol, are only a selection. I wonder how many people have been interviewed as much?
   
   There's a wide variety of interviews here, from the monosyllabic to the raunchy to more or less conventional in form but intelligent in content(when discussing art with those who understand art well).
   
   What's missing with Warhol when interviewing is that need to explain onself in great detail that seems typical of most of us when given the chance. Somehow, despite our different backgrounds, when interviewed, we all sound the same: the pattern of the self given the chance to own the stage. Warhol often seems comfortable with responses of one simple sentence or less, which requires more interviewer participation and increases the tempo of the interviews.
   
   Warhol's sense of humor and desire for productivity (work, work, work) are apparent. No time to waste words.
   
   To make these interviews seem somewhat more concrete, look on the Web for the BBC audios of Warhol, several 1-3 minute segments that allow you to hear him.
   
   After reading these, I understand him perhaps a little more and he seems a great deal less remote and more likeable. I bought this along with "Andy Warhol 365 Takes" from the Warhol Museum staff: these two books complement each other well, this one focused more on the man and the other on his works. Despite his fame, he seems a greater artist than was at first apparent to me.

1 comments about Wild Raspberries.

1. I adore this little book, am getting copies to give to my cooking friends and have plans to frame some of the entries.

   The recipes are spoofs of the intricate French recipes en vogue during the 1950's, the illustrations are brightly colored Warhol sketches and each entry is calligraphed by Andy Warhol's mother (complete with scratched-over corrections). One of my favorite recipes for an impromptu summer picnic dessert requires a portable regrigerator from Abercrombie & Fitch ...

   I've given four stars because not all of the recipes are as brilliant as my favorites, but they will all be cherished by people who cook (or by people who read Martha Stewart and sometimes giggle)

No comments about The Painting of Modern Life.

No comments about Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms.

5 comments about Andy Warhol (Penguin Lives).

1. Frankly, I didn't know very much about Andy Warhol until I read this book. I learned how sexual and abstract (to use one of his favorite words) he really was. The book is a nice overview. It makes me want to learn more about him and see more of his work. There is a wonderful source reference at the end of the book for anyone who may want to continue research and study of WARHOL. He definitely made a mark in the art world for the 20th Century. ....



2. As a Warhol scholar, and someone who has read dozens of books and essays about him, I would heartily recommend this as an _addition_ to the other works. It's not really a biography in the traditional sense at all, and it certainly shouldn't be the first or only thing you read.

   If you prefer a clinical, detached, "just the facts, ma'am" approach - skip this. If you are terrified by 20th century philosophy and psychoanalysis - skip this. If you find it easier to disparage strawman concepts like "postmodernism" rather than actually reading and thinking about continental philosophy (yes, I know it's difficult) - skip this. And judging from the reviews, if you're terribly uncomfortable with sexual themes or "swishiness" in art or writing - forget it.

   The book is excellent. The prose is often rich and compelling - my copy is dogeared from all the passages I've marked - and the philosophical and psychoanalytic themes, while not developed, can be very suggestive. Koestenbaum has an excellent reading of many of the films - perhaps the most important and underexamined aspect of his work. Warhol's art is certainly not reduced to postmodernist cliches (as it has been so often elsewhere) nor is it reduced to being "about" his sexual identity. In a striking change, Warhol is not considered as a celebrity or a monster, but like the frail yet determined individual he was, the complex and multifaceted life he led, and the gorgeous, troubling, powerful art he produced. If you don't know anything about Warhol, if you've haven't seen much of his work or any of his films, don't start with this book - you'll be confused and dissappointed. But if you already think you know all about Warhol, and you read this book -slowly - while looking at his work, I think you've find it an incredibly helpful guide.

   For real reviews, ...read Hal Foster's review in the London Review of Books




3. There is no other word capable of describing how utterly pointless, random, and pretentiously written this book is. Wayne Koestenbaum has produced the single worst biography I have ever read. Not only is the writing style painful and full of semi-fancy language used as a subsitute for content, but the book skips over major parts of Warhol's career, concentrating instead on his many movies. After mentioning the Velvet Underground, Koestenbaum writes "Their music has many admirers, but it may be the aspect of Warhol's world with which I have least sympathy, and so I will beg off any attempt at analysis." The utter ridiculousness of this sentence speaks for itself.

   One of the most infuriating things about this book is that Koestenbaum repeatedly attempts to make connections between Warhol's works that do not exist, and to analyze his art in ways that don't make sense.

   Do not make the same mistake I did and waste time and money on this book.




4. I think that Wayne did a humiliating job with this book. He mostly focused on the [...] things that Warhol did in his lifetime. You know what i think, i think that Wayne had a crush on Andy himself, because the are both[...]and Wayne seems to like to talk about Andy's [...]



5. This is one of my very favorite books. Wayne Kostenbaum's trademark rococo prose enlightens and delights. Clearly enraptured with his subject, he pulls out all the stops: free-associative, linguistically complex interpretations of Warhol's subconscious motivations and sexual neuroses abound. I cheerfully allow the author every metaphorical , grammatical, and Freudian excess, because here, at last, is someone writing about the 20th Century's most notorious and influential artist as if he were human. Significantly, Kostenbaum ushers the reader into an intimate, reverent viewing of the several important, rarely seen, and shamefully under-appreciated films Warhol made the 60s. You will either love this book, and want to revisit it again and again, or loathe it and not even be able to finish it. And, I bet those of you in the latter category are not all that engaging in flirty conversation over an after-dinner drink.

3 comments about Warhol.

1. This is a lavishly illustrated large format book (11"x11") by one time Warhol associate David Bourdon. It tells the oft told story of how a sickly boy from a poor immigrant family became one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century, who's images of the famous and the mundane still influence art, design fashion and advertising today.

   Even though the book is over 400 pages long with the author obviously interviewing many of the artist friends and family, Bourdon does not really document Warhol's life in any great detail. If that is what you are looking for, I suggest Victor Bockris excellent detailed biography "Warhol". Having said that, the author does cover all the main events of Warhol's life in a gossipy easy to read style (one which Warhol himself might have enjoyed).

   The books main attraction is the amount of full page colour illustrations of the artists work. Probably around two thirds of the books 432 pages are given over to this, beginning with Warhol's first drawings at Pittsburgh Art College up to his last series The Last Supper.

   Bourdon argues a convincing case for Warhol's importance as an artist and how more than several of the artist's concepts (I hesitate to call them theories) on the nature of celebrity and the business of art have entered the public conscience. I doubt we would have had Basquiat, Emin and Hirst without Warhol. The book shows how Warhol was and still is the perfect mirror for his age. From the Campbell soup tins, underground films, the drugs and sex filled Factory or the fame obsessed, celebrity portraits of the 70's.

   If you are after an indepth biography of Andy Warhol I suggest that you try Bockris instead. However, if you are after a beautifully illustrated volume of Warhol's work and a good introduction to is life and work I strongly recommend this book.




2. This year at school, I had to write a research paper about an influential twentieth century American. I chose Andy Warhol. Needing a primary source, I went to the library and used this book. I chose it mainly because it was very big, and at the time I was worried I wouldn't have enough information. When I finally started reading, I discovered
   a)there is a huge amount of pictures in this book (not a bad thing.)
   b)this book had more than enough information.
   It is a very good biography, good for warhol fans. The pictures are excellent, and offer a great career retrospective. The book is very informative, and my only complaint is that it didn't say enough negative things about the artist. However, I would recommend this book to anybody interested in Andy Warhol



3. If you only want one book about Warhol, this seems a great choice. If you want many books about Warhol, you may find after reading them all that this is the one you'll rely on.
   
   If you plan on becoming a great artist, plan on developing a great friendship with someone like Bourdon.
   
   I've read other very good books about Warhol, including Bockris' "Warhol: The Biography", "Prince of Pop", "POPism" and "365 Takes", but remained quite puzzled about Warhol. Bourdon doesn't remove all the mystery, but he does reduce it considerably.
   
   Besides being an excellent writer and so knowledgable about art, he was a close friend of Warhol's for more than 25 years. He's packed the book both with details and astute assessments. There's a lot of the movies in here, both about their contents and about why they made an impact. Many prints and people are pictured. He's provided contexts within the worlds of painting, of moviemaking, and of the culture at large rather than just describe what Warhol did. Although a friend, he's not afraid to note Warhol's failings, including his stinginess in paying assistants and the coldness he could exhibit to former friends.
   Warhol's sad (to me) descent into hanging out with celebrities after the 60's is also well-covered.
   
   Why would people hang out at the dumpy Silver Factory? Perhaps for a chance to get into his movies, perhaps to be invited to a group dinner that night, perhaps because they were wanted no where else, perhaps to score. What really happened to Edie Sedgwick? A book focused on her might tell you, but Bourdon manages to tell enough that you can realize the full tragedy.
   
   This is the closest I've gotten to what made Warhol and his associates tick. It won't stop me from reading more about Warhol, but Bourdon has helped me make a big step in my understanding of Warhol. It's an exceptional book and hence seems a great value.

3 comments about Andy Warhol Screen Tests: The Films of Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonne, Volume One (Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonnee).

1. callie angell's expert volume 1 of the warhol film catalog raisonne (screentests) is a must for all libraries as the most authentic referrence manual for this ouvre. all information is from direct viewing of the films and interviews with actual participants. it is therefore the primary source for this series of warhol film art. the publication is beautiful and the illustrations, actual stills from the acutal films, are exciting. the text and essays are chock full of technical info on the making of the series, social notes included. a must have for all serious warhol souces. abrams and the whitney museum of american art did a fine job; it's a historical documentary publication in the art world.



2. Bought it as an anniversary gift. Before wrapping it I paged through and quickly became engrossed. I'm not sure I would have been as interested if I hadn't previously seen many of the screen tests. Author accepts Screen Tests as canonical films whose production details are of tremendous significance. Brief bios and gossipy tidbits cater to shallower retro-interest in the usual superstars, although numerous people cast in the Screen Tests were rich patrons and art industry knobs. Like much of Warhol's oeuvre, the Screen Tests merit sustained viewing only if you're willing to invest a lot in the experience. Vol 1 provides innarestin' background for people so inclined. Might buy Vol 2, if it isn't bloated with stuff on the Warhol-Morrissey productions.



3. Wow, it's hard to top Billy Name himself writing a review of this, but this book is a real gas and an essential catalog of Warhol's screen tests. You get stills from each of the tests, with a brief bio of each of the subjects. Always interesting and informative, full of surprises and humor, and exhaustively detailed. There were even a few color tests done, and you get stills from each of them too. Some of these people are true shadows and we know little, and some are truly beautiful (Amy Taubin!). I am really looking forward to Volume Two and the "features." Warhol being the most important artist of the second half of the 20th Century, it is even possible that these films may be his most important art works. Mailer said that we wouldn't recognize their value for fifty years, but we've now passed the forty year mark and my impression is that most people would still want to ignore these -- but time will tell.

2 comments about Andy Warhol Fashion.

1. These are the early illustrations from fashion magazines of the `50s, and they are just delightful. Shoes, fans, gloves and other glamorous necessities from the tastemakers of Vogue, Mademoiselle and Harper's Bazaar are full of wit, fun, style and a crazy cartoon-like kookiness that proves irresistible. The preface is written by Simon Doonan, the Creative Director of Barney's New York, who helps place the work squarely in historical perspective. While the drawings are clearly imbued with the unmistakable Warhol sense of fun, they also illustrate a very interesting relationship between what was commercial art and what was to become fine art. These drawings may have been originally done to illustrate articles and advertisements, but that strange, off-center sense of reality that Warhol later brought to his paintings and photographs is clearly present. And clearly still fashionable.



2. Beautiful fashion pictures! However, not as much text as expected. A great fashion picture book for adults.