Customer Reviews

Swimming Underground: My Years in the Warhol Factory

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I was captivated by this book from page one. Woronov is deeply wounded and, as a result, incredibly funny. She writes like Francis Bacon painted: vicious, raw and painfully real. It truly is a joyride into Hell. My favorite passage is about the girl who o.d'd at a party and nobody cared. All continued having 'fun' until she was eventually revived. Everyone was most disappointed.

My goodness! How does someone get to be so *damaged*?!? The narrator, heroine, and main character recounts her insane escapades with the notorious Warhol crowd. From her desperate celibacy to her frantic, coke-induced bead stringings with the "bug people," Mary leads us on a trippy ride through the reeling wonder of Warhol life. Sure, she's messed up, but it makes for an interesting story. (so far, two and a half slices of toast)

I read this because I like a lot of Mary Woronov's films and she seems pretty cool, so, what the heck. I know virtually nothing about Andy Warhol and the Factory, except for what I got in art history classes, which was pretty bland. I *think* I got a lot of this book, but who knows. It was tremendously interesting, and some parts are really, really funny. Others are really, really scary. For anyone interested in Andy Warhol and the people who made up the Factory, this book is for you. Mary Woronov was there and there is a chapter about many of the main people. It didn't mean much to me apart from entertainment because I had/have no idea who these people were/are, but for someone more serious about these people, this would be a must-read book. For the casual fan of Mary Woronov, you get a sense of her funny personality and stuff, her youth and college are covered, but there's nothing after the Factory. Whatever your interests, the book keeps your attention and is a great read.

dont get me wrong, I love Mary and the whole Factory entourage, and I get the way Mary wrote this book. But it still was a bit confusing. Anyone who wasnt familiar with the scene and didnt know who was who would be lost.

I'VE READ MANY BOOKS ON THE SIXTIES WARHOL FACTORY SCENE AND ITS FOLLOWERS AND THIS ONE WAS BY FAR THE FUNNIEST,MOST TRUTHFUL ACCOUNT OF THE WHOLE FACTORY SCENE THAT I HAVE READ TO DATE(I READ IT IN A DAY). I BELIEVE MARY'S ACCOUNT OF THE STORY BECAUSE SHE PUTS IT ALL OUT THERE AND PULLS NO PUNCHES.
IF YOU READ SOME OF THE OTHER ACCOUNTS OF THE FACTORY(DEPENDING ON WHO WROTE IT)THE WRITER ALWAYS TRYS TO PLAY DOWN THIER OWN PART IN THE MANIA. MARY DOES NOT DO THAT. SHE WAS A SPEED FREAK AND LETS YOU KNOW IT. I THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT.HOWEVER I THINK ANYONE WHO DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT ERA WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME READING IT.

Mary Woronov's Years in the Warhol Scene/Factory! I loved this Book! The style, the juxtaposition of Hard edged Woman & a lost little girl. I loved that she was "unlikable" This is the type of strong heroine the Suburban punkettes should be emulating. She knows who the fakers are and where they reside. She follows her Own path on her Own terms. When she almost allowed that Stalker girl to get hit by the train I was Jarred but secretly hoping for, as Mary was for an ending worth telling the Grandkids about! Don't be afraid to Swim Underground!

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.