How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great [Hardcover]

Karen Karbo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2007

How to Hepburn, Karen Karbo's sleek, contemporary reassessment of one of America's greatest icons, takes us on a spin through the great Kate's long, eventful life, with an aim toward seeing what we can glean from the First Lady of Cinema. One part How Proust Can Change Your Life and one part Why Sinatra Matters, How to Hepburn teases some unexpected lessons from the life of a woman whose freewheeling, pants-wearing determination redefined the image of the independent woman while eventually endearing her to the world.
 
This witty, provocative gem is full of no-nonsense Hepburn-style commentary on subjects such as: making denial work for you; the importance of being brash, facing fear, and always having an aviator in your life; learning why and how to lie; the benefits of discretion; making the most of a dysfunctional relationship; and the power of forgiving your parents. Thrilling fans of the notoriously independent actress, award-winner Karen Karbo presents a gusty guidebook to harnessing your inner Hepburn, and living life on your own terms.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Katharine Hepburn, who would have turned 100 in May this year, was known for doing things her own way. Her choices were famously unconventional—rejecting family life in favor of her career, living as Spencer Tracy's mistress for decades, wearing slacks instead of skirts. Convinced there are lessons here for modern women, journalist and novelist Karbo (Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me) decided to try to figure out how Hepburn made it all work. For instance, while Hepburn rejected marriage, perhaps she got everything she really wanted (love and companionship) without the baggage she didn't want (fights over doing the laundry or cooking dinner). Karbo acknowledges "you don't always have to know what you're getting into in order to succeed"; Hepburn knew that to "go forward blindly" often works just as well. Also, Hepburn found denial worked just fine, allowing her to ignore early criticism that she couldn't act or that she had a terrible voice. Karbo presents all this heterodox advice with great humor, but there's a point she's making to sister Gen-Xers: Hepburn broke all the rules women were supposed to follow and still had a fabulous life. (May)
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About the Author

Karen Karbo is the author of three novels, two works of nonfiction, and a memoir, all of which were named New York Times Notable Books. The Stuff of Life was a People Critic's Choice, a selection of the Satellite Sisters Radio Book Club, and winner of the Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction. A past winner of the General Electric Young Writer Award, Karen is in addition the recipient of an NEA grant. Her essays, reviews, and articles have appeared in the New York Times, Redbook, Elle, Vogue, Esquire, the New Republic, and Self. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1st edition (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596913517
• ISBN-13: 978-1596913516
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( H ) > Hepburn, Katherine

More About the Author

Karen Karbo is the author of three novels, all of which were named New York Times Notable Books; four nonfiction books-including How to Hepburn, which the Philadelphia Inquirer called 'an exuberant celebration of a great original,' and The Stuff of Life, a People Magazine's Critic's Choice-and three books for young adults. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Outside, Elle, Vogue, More, and salon.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I find this book absolutely fascinating!, April 29, 2007

By 

Darrin Owens: Author/ Spiritual Teacher (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great (Hardcover)

I find this book absolutely fascinating!

Karen Karbo has taken the power and wisdom of a legendary woman and created an enchanting manual for us to be `Hepburnized.' Kate has always been an inspiration for me in everyday life, and just the other day I thought someone should write a book about Kate's wit and wisdom. Ta da!! Here it is.....this lovely work I recommend to anyone ready to feel the fear and do it anyway and not to mention learning to find yourself absolutely fascinating!

I want to also say bravo to Karen for calling out William J. Mann and his preposterous "bio" on Kate. Read 'How to Hepburn' and find out what I'm talking about. Karen you are also a woman of substance. Kate would be proud.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Cursory Look at the Hepburn Way of Life Offers Little in the Way of Revelation, February 7, 2008

By 

Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great (Hardcover)

As I was looking at the biographies section of my local independent bookstore, I noticed this compact book snuggled between much larger books about two screen icons who share the same last name, Audrey and Katharine Hepburn. Given the provocative title, I wanted to venture a guess as to which Hepburn the author was talking about since both women have inspired various levels of imitation and adoration even after their respective deaths. As I suspected, the book turns out to be about Kate on the not-so-coincidental occasion of her centenary. However, author Karen Karbo is not really examining the legendary actress's life in detail but rather taking a more cursory look at the cues in her life and memorable quotes that helped shape her enduring persona. Hepburn obviously lived life on her own terms, and Karbo sets out to define what the guiding principles were behind the actress's 93-year-old life.

Toward that end, the author does a reasonably entertaining job of presenting the Hepburn philosophy, steeped as it is in self-mythologizing, but there is nothing revelatory here that would surprise fans. It's common knowledge that the woman was a difficult personality with a wealth of idiosyncrasies. At the same time, she continues to be a beloved icon for her unmovable sense of self and her non-conformist mindset just as much for her enduring career. Karbo's treatment reads a bit like a manifesto, which I'm sure is intentional, but without the cumulative context of Hepburn's life events, there is a lack of resonance to the life lessons presented. Several comprehensive biographies on the market offer theories on her life, though none more accurately encapsulates her philosophy than the subject herself in Me : Stories of My Life. Even better is the two-part 1973 interview Dick Cavett conducted with a 66-year-old Hepburn (mentioned briefly in the book and available on the first disc of The Dick Cavett Show - Hollywood Greats). With her crackling persona in full bloom, the legend threatens to make Cavett into a whipping boy with her unapologetic honesty and lacerating wit. That will give you a more vivid impression of Hepburn's outlook on life than this book really can.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bright, Sassy, and Spot-on, February 9, 2009

By 

Fool in the Forest (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great (Hardcover)

Like Karbo's other books, this is funny and perceptive. There's a lot of style here, as is fitting for the subject, but I don't want to make the book sound too light: it's genuinely thought-provoking.

As another reader points out, the book has the feel of a manifesto, and here that's a good thing. It moves along with the purpose, energy, and wink-as-you-go humor of, well, Hepburn.