Customer Reviews

The Andy Warhol Diaries

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Fascinating tales from the horses mouth. Andy dictated his diary to Pat Hackett at 9:30 am daily from whereever he was in the world. It started out as an expense account diary, but it turned into gossipy dish about the wild times in the Warhol world of the 70s and 80s. One can almost hear Andy speaking the words in his low, whiney voice. Some parts are very very funny, other parts make you want to cry. Andy was a lost soul and it comes through very clearly in his quest for acceptance. This book is large, trimmed down from 20,000 original diary pages, but still too large for a quick read. It almost takes extra time to read the diaries, a lot cannot be absorbed all at once. It is best ingested and enjoyed in small doses. It is really a delight and full of naughty fun

A fantastic look inside the head of one of the world's biggest mysteries! And the guide is none other than the man himself.

Under the platinum fright-wig, there was a swiss-made machinery that went on 24/7. This is a description of Andy's last 9 years. At times funny and piquant, at others annoying, it offers the closest thing to an autobiography there ever will be about both man & myth.

A veritable who's who and who's what (and where) of this era is there in vivid detail. From the '54 days, to Bianca and Mick's ugly split, John Lennon's murder which left Warhol aghast, to Truman Capote's passing which made him cry. Phone chats with First Ladies and litterbugs, crushes on rock stars, celebrity weddings and celebrity parties, taxi bills (oh, how he kept track of money!), loneliness in crowds and funny, catty comment on friends and foes alike with the deadpan charm that was his trademark.

This is a most precious document on pop culture and history, as seen through the eyes and lenses of a man who was gifted with talent and was virtuous enough to be totally observant.

Read it and keep it forever!

If you ever wanted to know what the New York state of mind was in the 1970s and 1980s, then this book is for you. Andy Warhol lived at the center of the "beautiful people" in the New York club/celebrity scene, from his Factory to Studio 54 and seemingly everywhere else. From hustlers and porn stars to the Hollywood glitterati and political movers and shakers, Warhol dictated it all to his diarist, Pat Hackett, who distilled it from 20,000 pages into this huge book. You will be shocked, you will be amused and you will see why there was only one Andy Warhol -- the artist and pop culturist who took a "New York" minute and turned it into 15 minutes of bizarre fame. Don't miss out on this book!

For centuries, the world of visual art was filled with mythical giants, people whose genius was not revealed to the world until long after said person's demise or people whose genius so overwhelmed others that no one dared get close to the figure. Thankfully, Andy Warhol was neither of those two types of artists. And the world knows this due to the IRS, a woman who originally just wanted a little excitement in her life, and a man who refused to censor himself.

Andy Warhol was a lifelong Democrat who criticized the Nixon administration, thus sparking a series of intense IRS audits. To help make these audits easier, he and his then-assistant Pat Hackett began cataloguing his daily expenses and saving every single receipt he received. This grew into a routine that lasted long after Hackett stopped officially working for Warhol, through phone conversations and taped recordings. Warhol would inject bits of his everyday life into the financial chatter and he and Hackett became close friends and confidants. Approximately two years after Warhol's passing, Hackett compiled all of her notes together, made it into a cohesive whole, and published it as The Andy Warhol Diaries. And the Warhol fan should silently thank Hackett every day for this.

Because of the intimate friendship these two people enjoyed, the reader is able to get a more personal, more vulnerable view of one of the art world's most original and celebrated figures. By devouring the pages of this easily readable text, one can understand that for all the glitz and glamour associated with this artist's public persona, his private life was actually not that much different from that of the "average" American. He went to work, he paid his bills, he interacted with his friends, he tried to navigate the tricky world of love and romance, and experienced the same level of disappointments, setbacks, rejection, and confusion as that of any other human being in the post-industrial world.

Though that isn't to say that Warhol's life was completely devoid of the glitter that seemed to shine on the surface. To delve into the diaries is to escape into the celebrity-filled world of Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s, where one could bump into Jacqueline Onassis, Bianca Jagger, Diane von Furstenburg, or a massive array of other celebrities, all of whom Warhol had at least brief encounters with. Warhol did live what some might describe as a jet set lifestyle, flying off here and there to do promotional work, to attend various events held in his honor, to work with some new art patron of his, or on occasion to just relax and interact with his friends, both famous and non-famous. But he was by no means a spendthrift; indeed, many passages in the diaries indicate his desire to save money or to invest it, not wishing to squander his money away and return to the life he had as a child in a poor immigrant family. So his jet-set lifestyle did have its limits and he did end up spending a tremendous amount of time in and around his NYC home base, choosing to do most of his lounging at his vacation home in Montauk.

One might think that all of the above might tell the full story of The Diaries, that this means The Diaries are no longer worth checking out. One would be wholly incorrect, there, because The Diaries are so much more than just a chronicle of an artist's life. They give the reader an insight into the artist's personality that only his own words, lovingly preserved by his former assistant, can give. They make the reader fall in love with Warhol, make the reader forever protective of him, make the reader wish he or she could've gotten a chance to know the late artist before his untimely and unfortunate demise in 1987. For this and many other reasons, this publication is an absolute must-read for anyone even remotely interested in "that guy who painted Campbell's soup cans" and is worth every single penny of its list price and then some.

I'm going to need a new copy of the Andy Warhol Diaries in a year or two. The binding on my current copy is really creased from periodic re-examinations. For me, the highpoints of this book are in the 1977 - late 1978 sections, and the early 80s (1982 - 1984). There seemed to be a constant energy in the entries in those years.

Prior to Steve Rubell's (owner of Studio 54) arrest for tax evasion, the entries were dominated by descriptions of New York City nightlife and name dropping. In 1982, there seemed to be a renaissance of social activity, albeit tempered, with a new group of regulars (Chris Makos and his boyfriend Peter, Jon Gould, etc.). AIDS was originally referred to as "gay cancer." What is striking me most in this re-reading of the Diaries is how much has been left out. There are a lot of gaps, especially when it comes to Warhol's personal relationships. For an overview of NYC's nightlife and artworld circa 1977 - early 1987, this book is essential. Social and popular culture historians will delight at Warhol's wry observations of celebrities and superstars in his immediate sphere. I remember when this book was first published, without an index. That was, in retrospect, a public relations coup. People were forced to comb through the volume to see who merited a mention.

Sadly, many of the Diary's notables came to a bad end: Andy himself died unexpectedly - and prematurely - after gall bladder surgery in February 1987. Jed Johnson died in the TWA plane crash in 1996. Steve Rubell, Jon Gould, Robert Hayes, Keith Haring, Halston, and so many others died of complications from AIDS. Jean-Michel Basquiat died from a drug overdose. Truman Capote died, relatively young, after decades of alcohol and drug abuse. Berry Berenson (Marisa Berenson's sister and one-time wife of Anthony Perkins) died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Despite the "gaps" I referred to previously, this volume is a remarkably fluid, entertaining document spanning a ten-year period. Pat Hackett did an admirable job in compiling and editing this massive tome into a readable, fascinating, and enduring pop-culture history. Warhol describes creating "time capsules," where he would throw items dating from a certain year into a box and then storing it for years before opening it again. Invariably, upon opening the time capsule, he would become transfixed in its contents. That is what this book is like at its best.

If you are at all interested in Warhol's work -- either as artist or observer -- this book is a must. Given its size and scope, this is not a book you will read from cover to cover, but, rather, one to be skimmed through, referred to again and again, and enjoyed each time you do. Warhol emerges as an immensely likable figure: funny, whimsical, shy, insecure, and very smart, despite his disingenuous protestations to the contrary.

"Went home lonely and despondent because nobody loves me and it's Easter, and I cried." [4-17-81] When I reached that line in the diaries, I think I truly fell in love with Andy. He was a total observer of life and pierced a depth of feeling in his aloneness. He seemed to be a walking nerve and picked up every nuance of life and all the personalities surrounding him.

His observations about people were uncanny - and he was like a prophet in many ways, even at one point predicting his own death! He knew things about people that they probably didn't know about themselves.

For instance his glib comment after the death of Elvis Presley in 1977, "They're saying that the article Caroline Kennedy did on the Elvis funeral for Rolling Stone made fun of the local people, but I can understand that--Caroline's really intelligent and the people down there really were dumb. Elvis never knew there were more interesting people" [8-30-77] - honing in on exactly what killed Elvis!

Or when he mentioned Michael Jackson's penchant for young boys - and that was 1984!

His diaries are so revealing and so easy to read and he really makes us understand all the modes of the counterculture that revolved around his life - the music, the artists, the movie stars... and how self-absorbed they all were. And how caught up in drugs and drink some of them became.

Although Andy was obviously anorexic and somewhat alcoholic (he hated to drink yet it seemed he drank almost every day) he was constantly trying to improve himself and he wrestled with his physical self and all his insecurities every day of his life. Yet he was of strong mind and his beliefs were never swayed. And he wasn't afraid to make his feelings and opinions known. Yet his life was always overshadowed by his fear of death and disease. And he was insecure about his looks, yet managed to start a modeling career in his early '50s!

He was such a 'cat'! "There was a party at the Statue of Liberty, but I'd already read publicity of me going to it so I felt it was done already." [7-5-83] He invented his own language and way of communicating, which was very colourful and made every moment interesting. His diaries are a sensual feast; he lived life to its fullest and was able to describe all the flavors of the food and drink, the odors and scents of people and places, in such a way that the reader feels as though he/she is reliving it all.

What impressed me most about Andy was his great discipline and ability to admit to his own shortcomings. He got up every day and went to work like it was a nine-to-five job, went to church every Sunday, and stayed in tune with all that was going on in the world around him. If Andy were alive today, he'd love the Internet, e-mail and cell phones. For he was a man about the world, truly in love with life and all that it has to offer.

I just wished the diaries included an index.

Andy Warhol knew everybody and left these brief diary entries over a period of years that coincided with the Studio 54 era of Jagger, Capote, Halston and countless other connected NY glitterati. The book is a fascinating look into Warhol's personal reflections on his friendships and the people involved in the scene at the time. It can be basically opened at random and read with enjoyment.
Pretty cool stuff if you are interested in that period of NY cafe society.

the Andy Warhol Diaries. 900 pages. 1976-1987. the closest look ever at warhol's actual thought processes, opinions & speech pattern. Not the shy,. fumbling public affectation of decades of interviews. Actual day to day diary entries dictated by andy of the last 12 years of his life. backdrop: the 70s disco/studio 54 era; then the 80s art/business explosion & various losses in andy's personal life. Anyone who lived through these years, particularly in nyc and /or the nightlife and art worlds, will find so many events they recall in their memory. Warhol'd depictions of friends & various celebrities are candid, frank, brutal, humorous. This is the closest you will ever get to Andy's real feelings thoughts tone & expression. Its a bit of a committment- it must be read chronologically, it took me just over a month to read all 900 pages. but it was vastly rewarding & the insight into the real warhol is priceless; also if you were alive in this time you will reflect upon your own journey during 1976-1987. the portraits of just halston, bianca jagger & basquiat drawn alone are worth the 900 pages. rating: A

If you want a great picture of the New York scene in the 70s and early 80s you can't go past this book. Andy Warhol was the ultimate party animal, and his observations of the people he partied with and the places he partied at are witty and insightful.

But hey the gossip is great! Lots of people were uncomfortable when this was published, and with good cause. It is really quite revealing!

If you are interested in the arts scene of the times this is a really revealing book. If you like a good gossip this is for you. Enjoy Mr Warhol's 15 minutes of fame! He appeared to.

I got this book as a gift, right after it was published in the late eighties. Since then, I've read & re-read it more times then I can count. It's just as much fun on the umpteeth read as it was on the first.

The entire Mick-Jerry-Bianca-Halston-Studio 54 entries are hilarious. It wouldn't bother me a bit if his diary was published in its entirety someday. I'd read all of the doggone 20,000 pages!

It was shocking when Andy died unexpectedly in 1987. Every time I read the book, it's like a clock ticking in my head as time, unbeknownst to him, runs out, and far too soon.