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First Sentence:
A: I have never called my answering service. Read the first page

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New York, Liz Taylor, Robert Redford, Andy Warhol Enterprises, Jackie Curtis, Park Avenue, White House, Ingrid Superstar, Jockey Classic Briefs, Main Street, New Jersey, Truman Capote

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59 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (59 customer reviews)

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Andy Warhol: in his own words, January 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : (From A to B and Back Again) (Paperback)

I read this book knowing next to nothing about Andy Warhol. After reading it, I feel more or less the same way. Although it is entertaining and a sure quick read!

This book is a collection of paragraphs by the late 60's pop artist. It is divided into 15 chapters: Love (puberty) Love (prime) Love (senility) Beauty, Fame, Work, Time, Death, Economics, Atmosphere, Success, Art, Titles, The Tingle, and Underwear. Don't be fooled by the numerous chapters though; this is a very thin book. Each chapter has a topic, some as short as one paragraph long. There's a lot of division but not a lot of content. Most of Warhol's observations on life, some general, some personal, range from interesting and unique decadent philosophies to brief, meaningless nuggets as unnecessary as anything you'll find in a Larry King column. I enjoyed many parts of this book such as Warhol's unapologetic feelings towards spending money (Economics) since such unbridled greed is not something that most rich people are honest enough to admit (and is also specific to the 1970's and 1980's greed and decadence of New York). I also enjoyed but was somewhat mystified by Warhol's thoughts about sexuality and beauty. He seems detached and objective about his feelings about those subjects. Warhol never gives any clues too broad about his preferences- which I find appealing, seeing that it's very unique for a man, even if he's bisexual or homosexual, to not be like "Sex! Sex! Sex!" Unfortunately, the book is written with competence but not great articulateness. The opposite of wordy, it's not quite a quote book, but I'd definitely downgrade the title from "philosophies" to "monologues."

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of course it's brilliant, and it's b.s., which is why it's brilliant..., September 18, 2006

By	David Alston (Chapel Hill, NC, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : (From A to B and Back Again) (Paperback)

Seriously, at a certain point when I was around 18 or 19, this was my Bible, or my Little Red Book - I and a handful of friends (Warhol died at about the same time) took every syllable here very, very seriously.

This is kinda funny to me now, but it's a great book still, a truly unique cultural artifact. Warhol - as always maintains the trademark deadpan aloofness here, which had a few odd purposes beyond simply looking cool: there were rare instances when he'd drop his guard and a hint of social relevance would enter the frame, which did run contrary to most of what Warhol did, here especially. Doing so would turn art into something didactic, and - as a joke doesn't work if you have to explain the punch line, art flops if you have to lead your viewers, or readers, by the hand into your meaning. Thus Warhol's stylish glibness and affected cool served a brilliant purpose - it made demands of everyone who came into contact with it.

Here we have Warhol's epigrams - spread out like some artboy approximation of 'Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-Tung,' all about equally quotable, useless, devoid of literary merit, yet (unlike the leaden and ideologically bankrupt Chairman) also stylish and memorable, even at their most zoned out.

The other great method behind Warhol's facades is here as well - the same impulse that turned canned soup into the artworks of a once very, very poor 2nd-generation immigrant's child (if you were going hungry, Campell's soup would in fact become, and possibly remain, a beautiful thing, and we all know that beautiful things are and always will be one of the most fitting of subjects for art). These cryptic sayings and jottings all seem constructed to get us all to see the small stuff for what it is, and learn to appreciate it for that.

Warhol was like Elvis - all things to all people. And about as maddening, contradictory and semiotically intriguing as Elvis. This slim little book is one of his strangest and most magnificent achievements.

-David Alston

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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pop Philosophy, December 6, 2004

By	calmly - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : (From A to B and Back Again) (Paperback)

Andy's response to an excess of abstract art was Pop Art.

Andy's response to an excess of abstract philosophy was Pop Philosophy.

This book is not so much about Andy Warhol as it is about Warhol making philosophy pop. To make philosophy pop, Andy shared his observations and values, just as to make art pop, Andy shared the Campbell soup he enjoyed so often.

Philosophy has been abstract for so long, we had forgotten it could be anything else. It had belonged to academicians for so long, we had forgotten it could belong to anyone else.

Andy worked with the topics of abstract philosophy, such as love, beauty, time, death, economics and art ... but he rendered them pop by talking about them the way ordinary people talk about them. Not that Andy seemed ordinary but what do you call concerns of pimples (in "Beauty"), not being able to shop on Sunday (in "Economics"), or waiting in line for movies (in "Time"). Views of Andy's but also acts of making topics previously owned by abstract philosophy into instances of pop philosophy.

Pop philosophy can also move beyond the limitations of stuffy abstract philosophy. Andy offers a chapter on something not to be found in academic philosophy: not "Power" but "Underwear Power". The same commercialism found in pop art can be found here in pop philosophy: "Buying is much more American than thinking..."

So philosophy needn't be just about thinking, it can be about our everyday lives: loving, working and buying underwear. Andy liked having loud music on when doing art so he wouldn't think too much. Perhaps thinking too much gets in the way of good philosophy. If your underwear fits well, there may be no need to work out a lengthy critique of dialectical reasoning. But can you accuse Andy of living an unexamined life?

Warhol should not be underestimated. His contributions and challenges to society are not limited to areas he is well known for such as painting, movies, interviewing but extend even to philosophy and the spirit in which we live each day. Warhol lives. If we practice pop philosophy in the manner he suggests in this book, we may find our lives worth living a good deal more than academic philosophers have shown. Forget the doctorate, go to your own school of Warhol.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars :>
This is an awesome book it's funny and Andy is God or at least my God and this is my bible :D

Published 29 days ago by Giulia Venturelli

4.0 out of 5 stars Read It When Things Suck
I only wish I'd had a copy of this book when I was dealing with rage in the workplace. Life can be tough and complicated. Read more

Published 2 months ago by O. Marie

2.0 out of 5 stars The Ragady Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to Z and Back Again
Upon receiving this book ,which I gave as a gift to my sister, I was very disappointed. The book was listed as if it were in decent shape with a few minor imperfections. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Samuel D. Adams

4.0 out of 5 stars If you love Andy, you'll love his philosophy
This book was very funny and a great insight on how Andy's mind works.
Some of his philosophy is so far from the norm that when you think about it it actually might work... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Flavia Miralles

4.0 out of 5 stars Warhol: A Zeitgeist Mirror
I recently had lunch at the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh PA from where I purchased this book. With me was a very intellectual Indian guy who hadn't heard of Warhol nor was he... Read more

Published 16 months ago by M. Khan

5.0 out of 5 stars Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol is known for throughing america back on its face. He's way of thinking is exuberant and unusual. Read more

Published 17 months ago by Alberto Pinto Coelho Jr.

2.0 out of 5 stars Ghostwritten by Bob Colacello and Pat Hackett
According to page 208 of the Warhol Biography 'Holy Terror; Andy Warhol Close Up' by Bob Colacello (1990), Warhol delegated the actual writing of the book to Colacello and Pat... Read more

Published on July 3, 2007 by Tevis Fen-Kortiay

5.0 out of 5 stars straight from the master
I used to think that Andy Warhol was not a real artist, only a great self promoter. This book, written in his own words, proved my prejudice to be completely wrong and uncalled... Read more

Published on April 6, 2007 by Antonio Rubiera

5.0 out of 5 stars Andy Would Be Pleased
I had a great buying experience. The book was in mint condition and came within a reasonable time.

Published on February 20, 2007 by Oxnardo

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this quirky read!
I was hanging out at a Borders one afternoon when i got hold of this book and I read all 200 something pages in a few intense hours! Read more

Published on December 6, 2006 by Natacha Malakoff

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