Product Description

A classic from the leader of the pop art movement and one of
the 20th Century's most notable personalities published in Modern Classics
for the first time, on the 20th anniversary of Warhol's death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64679 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

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

Synopsis
In his autobiography, published in 1975, the private Andy Warhol talks about love, sex, food, beauty, fame, work, money, success; about New York and America; and about himself - his childhood in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, good times and bad times in the Big Apple, the explosion of his career in the Sixties, and life among celebrities.

From the Author
Andy Warhol (1928-1987), was an American painter, filmmaker,
publisher, actor, and a major figure in the Pop Art movement. He also
produced a significant body of film work, including the famous Chelsea
Girls. Equally well known in the late Sixties and early Seventies as
resident host at his studio, the Factory. Andy Warhol died following gall
bladder surgery, in New York on the 22nd February 1987. As Warhol said: 'I
never think that people die. They just go to department stores.'

Customer Reviews

Fascinating
This book is a strange beast, but never fails to interest whether you dip into a section or read it from cover to cover as I did. Warhol didn't actually write the book, just as he didn't actually paint most of his works himself. He had a tape recorder into which he poured his thoughts, and an assistant with whom he worked to transcribe and edit what he chose to publish. The book is made up of sections rather than chapters, as it has no real narrative thread. Each section is given a title such as money or art, and Warhol simply reels forth his ideology, thoughts and musings on the subject. Luckily he was an extremely odd man with an unusual way of looking at the world, which is what makes the book so entertaining. He had a fascinating relationship with his art and the people around him and enough wit and humour to take the edge of what might otherwise come across as highly pretentious musings. If you want to know about Warhol and what his art means, this is as good a place as any to start.

Pop Philosophy
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.

Witty, clever, intelligent musings by a cultural icon
Whatever you think of Andy Warhol, 20 years after his death and 3+ decades after this little book was written, he remains an inescapable figure in the arts scene. This witty book is difficult not to like, full of clever musings about life and art. You'll want to keep turning back to it and pass it on to friends to enjoy.