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Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory
 
 
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Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory [Paperback]

Mary Woronov (Author), Billy Name (Photographer)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)


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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Woronov (Wake for the Angels) was a Cornell undergraduate when she was "discovered" by Andy Warhol protege Gerard Malanga and suddenly found herself drawn into Warhol's notorious circle of counterculture hipsters. Seduced by the decadent glamour of the scene that revolved around Warhol's famous Factory, a world where "wanting was better than having, looking was better than being-it was the land of reflections," Woronov dropped out of college, appeared in several of Warhol's underground movies, notably Chelsea Girls, and embraced the weird fascinations of New York City's '60s drug culture. Here she weaves a vivid, impressionistic account of her time in Warhol's inner circle, a chapter in her life that came to an end when her addiction to speed got out of hand. Beginning in a tone of youthful excitement and slowly descending into one of frenetic despair, these memoirs are highly compelling and offer insightful portraits of such Factory notables as Lou Reed, Ondine and Nico. Woronov's prose is often dazzling; while she notes that Warhol himself was "uncomfortable with words," she proves herself a wordsmith. Her writing alone makes this an engrossing read. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Leaving Cornell University in 1964, Woronov joined the human odds and ends that congregated at Andy Warhol's famed Factory in New York City's SoHo. She soon found herself part of the stage show for Warhol's rock band creation, the Velvet Underground, and survived primarily on amphetamines. Her Factory peak, however, was her starring role in Warhol's infamous film, Chelsea Girls (1967). Woronov tells her version of those years in a highly personal and impressionistic style, befitting the author of the short story collection Wake for the Angels (LJ 9/1/94). Though the usual cast of Warhol characters makes their appearance here (International Velvet, Ondine, Nico, Billy Name, etc.), the author's account is not for those seeking a history of the Factory years, for which Ultra Violet's Famous for 15 Minutes: My Years with Andy Warhol (LJ 11/15/88) or Nat Finkelstein's Andy Warhol: The Factory Years (St. Martin's, 1989. o.p.) provide a more reliable chronicle. An optional purchase for most collections.?Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Serpent's Tail (May 1, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1852427191
  • ISBN-13: 978-1852427191
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Woronov's wild amphetamine-filled time in Warhol's Factory., October 7, 1998
By A Customer
Before reading this book I only knew Woronov through her delicious work as the mild-mannered murdering dominatrix in the black comedy "Eating Raoul." This book exposes her early years as an actress in Andy Warhol's Factory. It is a scary descent into a drug-filled world filled with drag queens, celebrities, hallucinations, mole people and inner demons. Woronov paints a distinctly unflattering portrait of herself as a violent would-be artist driven to the brink of insanity by amphetamines. It is frustrating because as a protagonist she is so unlikable, but at the same time the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride that she takes us on is compelling. The frustrating part of this book is that we don't really see her ultimate redemption, just her trip through hell.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars icily seductive, August 30, 2004
This review is from: Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory (Paperback)
If you're expecting soup cans and canned supertars, you may be in for a shock. This is the squalid, squirming flip side of the swinging sixties, and Warhol is little more than an intermittent background hum. False advertising? not really, for Woronov-star of Chelsea Girls and other Warhol films-serves up a memoir tthat's both seedier, sleazier, and more sophisticated than the standard celebrity tell-all.

Woronov is icily seductive, coaxing the reader into a tar pit of sex and death, of drugs and drag queens, of the twilight zone between real life and hallucination. All-night speed binges, Velvet Underground gigs, the woman without a vagina-this freakshow is closer to David Lynch or Hieronymous Bosch than any of Warhol's dry-cleaned imagery. The book reads like a flashback; one moment you'll feel there's nothing going on, and the next you'll be sent spinning by a cunning metaphor or appalling image. A sleeper of a book, but full of strange and affecting dreams.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good.. confusing, May 24, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory (Paperback)
I read this book to get more background on The Factory. I suggest that you do not buy this if you are looking for a book with background. You have to know a bit about The Factory to understand what's going on. I really enjoyed this though, and I found it very intriguing. This is the book that really got me very interested in the Factory. I highly recommend this. I am withholding one star because it was a bit confusing, with many gaps the reader had to have previous knowledge to fill in. It was insanely interesting, however.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
I'm sitting in a chair. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
silver couch
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Mole People, Miss Smith, Andy Warhol, Rotten Rita, Maria Callas, Chelsea Girls, Lou Reed, Louie Walden, Billy Name, Silver George
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Warhol by Victor Bockris
 

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