The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) [Paperback]

Andy Warhol (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 1977

A loosely formed autobiography by Andy Warhol, told with his trademark blend of irony and detachment

 

In The Philosophy of Andy Warhol—which, with the subtitle "(From A to B and Back Again)," is less a memoir than a collection of riffs and reflections—he talks about love, sex, food, beauty, fame, work, money, and success; about New York, America, and his childhood in McKeesport, Pennsylvania; about his good times and bad in New York, the explosion of his career in the sixties, and his life among celebrities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

PRAISE FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANDY WARHOL

 

"Acute Accurate.Mr. Warhol's usual amazing candor.A constant entertainment and enlightenment."--Truman Capote

About the Author

Andy Warhol, a painter and graphic artist, also produced a significant body of film work, including his famous Chelsea Girls. He was equally well known in the late sixties and early seventies as resident host at his studio, The Factory, where one could listen to Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground and rub elbows with Edie Sedgwick. Warhold died in New York in 1987.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Harvest; First Edition edition (April 6, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156717204
• ISBN-13: 978-0156717205
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Artists, Architects & Photographers
  • #53 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Criticism
  • #63 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Pop Culture > Art

More About the Author

Andy Warhol, a painter and graphic artist, also produced a significant body of film work, including his famous Chelsea Girls. He was equally well known in the late sixties and early seventies as resident host at his studio, The Factory, where one could listen to Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground and rub elbows with Edie Sedgwick. Warhold died in New York in 1987.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 36 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

Format: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

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful

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

By A Customer

Format: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."

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Ghostwritten by Bob Colacello and Pat Hackett July 3, 2007

By Tevis Fen-Kortiay

Format:Paperback

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 Hackett. Colacello wrote the first draft and Hackett wrote the version that was published. Warhol's contribution was to set up the deal, offer a few suggestions and one-liners, and read the finished pages before they were sent off to the publisher. He brought them on his book tour to "remind him" what "he" had written.

If a silkscreen created by Warhol's assistants (carefully aping his art style) but signed by Warhol is still "authentic," does that mean an autobiography written by Warhol's assistants (carefully aping his speaking style) but credited to Warhol on the cover is still an "authentic" autobiography?