Customer Reviews

Edie: American Girl

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The oral history form is perfect for "Edie" little-girl-lost, who streaked across the '60's horizon like a falling star. Despite her grace, fragile beauty and charisma; Edie Sedgewick was almost born to be doomed even before the drugs did her in.

She was born into a wealthy old family that had a history of instability. Her father, also breathtakingly beautiful, had crushing psychological problems. Two of her brothers committed suicide. Her mother was ineffectual with her large brood. She was raised on an isolated ranch with her seven siblings with almost no contact with the outside world. When she hit Cambridge at 18, she was pathetically ill equipped to be in the larger world.

I couldn't agree more that she found herself in the midst of horribly decadent people. Andy Warhol gets a particularly bad rap in this book, but to me, he was no better nor worse than his hangers-on, just a shade more self-absorbed. What really saddened me was that I don't think it really mattered who Edie took up with. She was destined to spin out of control. She had no focus, no inner strength, and was dangerously self-centered and delusionary.

"Edie" is compelling reading whether or not you have experienced the '60's. It is good to keep in mind that Edie herself and the contributors to the book all were a part of a very small stratum that whistled through this confusing decade. They were no more representative of the rank and file than Emmerin is representative of this decade.

Such a lovely child, such a terrible waste.

It's funny how a person's childhood experiences can set a person up for success or failure as an adult. However, in the case of Edie Sedgwick, her failures as an adult were definitely unfunny. I loved that this book relied only on quotes from the people who had met/known her. Exceptional research into every stage of Edie's life to uncover people who experienced her in each incarnation and brilliant editing make this an extremely special biography. It is evident that the choices the adult Edie made which were ultimately destructive were foreshadowed by events in her childhood. I don't think it's necessary for you to be fascinated by the scenes Edie lived through to enjoy the book. If you approach this as a psychological study of an individual, it becomes mainstream reading, not just a pop-culture chronicle.

Edie Sedgwick was one of the hottest media events of the mid 1960's, a burning star enjoying the newest kind of fame - celebrity, i.e., being well-known for doing nothing except existing. Like so many of her generation, Miss Sedgwick crashed and burned (literally) at the end of the 1960's, dying of a barbituate overdose at the ripe old age of 28, after a series of well-publicized drug freakouts, accidents, and "rest cures" in mental hospitals. As other reviewers have noted, the conceit of telling Sedgwick's story through interviews with those who knew her is brilliant, producing a riveting narrative exposing to public view the inner workings of the many worlds in which Sedgwick moved - high-society, art, California biker, and East Village drug addict. Ultimately, Sedgwick impresses the reader as a force of nature, incredibly charismatic and compelling to those around her. Sadly, her glamour was not enough to save her from herself. What emerges from this book is a disturbing portrait of a world obsessed with money, fame, fashion and "fabulousness." As far as I could tell, this "glamourous" lifestyle seemed to consist chiefly of dressing foolishly, ingesting enormous quantities of drugs, copulating with anyone who showed an interest (of either sex), and living in a dreamworld of eternal youth and unending fame. Despite the vivid recollections of the interviewees, Sedgwick's life and "career" have left very few traces. Her death certificate described her as an "actress," but what Sedgwick "performances" can you think of today? She broke all the rules, but ultimately accomplished little. Not only was Sedgwick self-destructive and superficial, so was everyone else around her. The book is a stunning chronicle of an impatient era and a self-absorbed society convinced that the world belonged to it alone and that the party would never end. "Edie" is the perfect epitaph to the 1960's, a decade which "trumpeted fulfillment but achieved only confusion." (C. Paglia, 1991)

As a small-town west coast preteen in the 60s and self-absorbed teen in the 70s I was peripherally aware of the "pop" scene in New York City (mostly from my mother shaking her head over the photos and stories in "Life" magazine). When "Edie" was published I ran across it in a book club review and it just sounded intriguing. I ended up reading "Edie" so many times the cover practically fell off. Then a few years ago it mysteriously vanished from my bookshelves -- did I lend it to someone who was as morbidly fascinated as I by the tragic rise and fall of "Warhol's little queen" (as the Cult song says)??? One thing's for sure: Edie was a victim of Warhol's astounding ego -- or madness -- sucked into the black hole of his twisted little soul. Of course, she came from a long line of borderline personalities in a high-society family. The excesses of the 60s were absolutely the end of the road -- or rope -- for many of these types. As one who "missed" the whole self-indulgent and uncontrolled scene, after reading "Edie" I finally realized that I'm much better off having just read about those times. It's a real collage of that generation's high-fliers and fringe dwellers that will not cease to amaze. So why am I writing this review now? I just heard the song I referred to earlier, the Cult's "Edie," and I am now ordering a new copy of the book. Plimpton's word-of-mouth writing style brings the viewpoints of so many people who were there it's like theater in the round, or something -- you see and experience the scene from every angle. You don't hear just from the heads and freaks, you hear from the spectrum of New York's inhabitants, plus many of Edie's kinfolk. I recommend the book to anyone who likes to see how the stranger half live and who wants to experience the story-book coming of age and final degradation of a fragile, lovely girl who was caught in the sordid vortex of the pop culture.

I always noticed this book at my grandmother's place, but didn't recognise the name until last year, and I read this book in a matter of days. Edie's short life, as described in this convoluted biography induces both envy and pity, we envy the beautiful, spoilt celebrity at the centre of a wild hedonistic carnival, who seems to have everything and obey no-one, and we pity the poor lost soul who is used, abused, abandoned and maltreated at every turn. Edie's meteoric rise to instant stardom as the jewel in the crown of the 1960's Warhol empire is as tragic as it is thrilling, and the biography makes you feel every minute of it. This book brought me to tears twice and yet parts of it were so transcendant as to seem surreal, her life is still powerfully bright. The book is still really gripping and moving even though I was born almost three decades after her death and long after the end of the 60's. Somehow at every turn you hope Edie Sedgwick will pull herself together and pull through and you wish that everything told in the book will turn around but it never does, Edie seems to burn out before she'd even become a has-been.

I recommend this to anyone who's ever wondered what the 60's were like if you were famous and fabulous, or to anyone who wants to have a good cry.

American Girl traces Sedgwick's ascent to counterculture fame, from her pampered childhood in California to her forays into film and modeling. Compiled interviews with her relatives, lovers, and friends trace the lineage of an entire family, re-create the "Silver Sixties" and provide an exhaustive account of Edie's life.

The Sedgwicks were an old-time wealthy family; Judge Theodore Sedgwick, "a political ally of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington," was Speaker of the House following the American Revolution. His descendants have been illustrious All-American lawyers, magnates, artists and actors - all beautiful and, it seems, all in serious emotional turmoil.

Edie was brought up in a fabulously luxurious but dysfunctional household. Her Cambridge classmates describe Edie's destructive relationship with her sculptor father, Francis "Duke" Sedgwick. In an attempt to resist Duke's stranglehold, Edie fled to New York at 19. There, she joined the pop art crowd and was Andy Warhol's muse from 1965 until 1966, when she left the Factory to pursue mainstream acting. She had, by all accounts, a marvelous screen presence, but in the end her acting career materialized solely in the inventive but forgettable 1972 release Ciao! Manhattan.

Following her failed attempt at movie stardom, Edie died at 28 of a barbiturate overdose. She never fulfilled her promise as a model, actress, or clothing designer - any of which, according to American Girl, she had the resources and potential to be. Sedgwick burst upon the art scene as an actress of great promise, only to die young as another drug casualty. Like many of her contemporaries, Edie faded away before burning out.

Stein's book also includes fascinating first-hand accounts of the social circles Sedgwick moved in. Interviews with members of America's elite upper class, the Factory crowd, and Edie's friends in a biker commune provide vivid descriptions of people and communities that have since changed drastically or ceased to exist. Stein warns readers that "Edie kept us all in different compartments," and that is accurate. Interviewees describe her alternately as cold and manipulative, loving and childlike, brilliant and boring. But whether readers consider Edie compelling or just another pretty face, American Girl provides insight on subcultures of wealthy moguls, starving artists, and everyone in between.

For an all too brief space of time Edie Sedgwick was the bright light of Andy Warhols' insular world of self proclaimed superstars.Beautiful, wealthy and emotionally troubled, her life of excitement and excess withered rapidly into debt, drug abuse and isolation. Discarded by the social glitterati when her instability became increasingly difficult to ignore, Edies' position as the girl of last year and eventual unremarked death stand as a scathing indictment of the fickleness of fame

Edie Sedgwick. Her name is synonymous with the 60s, Andy Warhol, glamour and the epitome of having it all and not knowing what to do with it. Edie was born into a well-to-do family that traces their roots back to the Mayflower. With all her family's gifts and trappings also came great mental issues and dysfunction. The book is told from the perspective of many friends and family members who knew the family and witnessed many of the horrors that made up the Sedgwicks. Edie's problems began way before she entered the Factory or the drug scene. Her father abused her and her siblings both mentally and physically (possibly sexually), cloistered the entire clan on a sprawling ranch in California, and shut out any influence of the outside world. Before Edie was 20, two of her three brothers committed suicide and she herself was hospitalized for anorexia. After her first hospitaliztion (many more would come to follow), she enrolled at prestigious Harvard to roam around under the guise of studying sculpting before dropping out and heading to New York to model. It didn't take long for Edie to hook up with the "in crowd" in New York and soon she began making movies with Andy Warhol's Factory and becoming one of the first Superstars. Edie's fashion sense and way of life became the counter culture of the 1960s. Like any 60s heroine (no pun intended), she also got caught up in the drug scene. Ultimately, her drug use and erratic behavior signaled the beginning of the end with her and Warhol. After burning up New York (literally), she high-tailed it back to California to try to salvage her life. She desperately hung on the her glory days, making sure every person she met knew she was "somebody". Edie's story ends predictably. Too much too soon and/or gluttony at its' best. This bio, though interesting, skips around aspects of Edie's life and leaves the reader wondering how she got to certain points. Presented as a oral biography, a number of Edie's friends and family recall memories of her that are funny, sad, and compelling. Some aspects of the book could have been left out (ie Tales of her biker friends towards the end of her life that have little to do with Edie). Black and white photos of Edie spanning her lifetime are spread throughout the book, along with a few newspaper articles about her. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Warhol's Factory or want to know more about the Poor Little Rich Girl. Though some questions about Edie may never be answered, this book is a cautionary tale of a life wasted and a girl who could not control herself despite having everything in life that is suppose to make one happy.

I read this book when it first came out and still have my tattered, dogeared copy. It is the breathless story of the poor little rich girl who became lost in the fabulous swirl of Warhol's 60's. On the outside, she was Edie, the Youth Quaker, on the inside she was a tragically lost girl who descended into the Stygian depths of fame, drugs, anorexia and tragedy. Each time I read this book, I kept wishing it could have been different somehow, that it could have a happy ending. A must read!

When the movie "Factory Girl" (god-awful by the way) came out, it renewed my interest in this book and Edie Sedgwick. My interest in her dates back to when I first bought this book, way back in 1982. The test of a great book is that is grows richer and deeper upon re-reading. And this one does.

At first, this was simply the story of a notorious party girl. Upon re-reading (I've read this countless times), "Edie" becomes the story of how the thread of mental illness traveled through generations. This book is truly unforgettable and haunting. And I'm sure, while suffering another bout of boredom, I'll read it again.