5.0 out of 5 stars Product in perfect condition

T. · 19 August 2025

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5.0 out of 5 stars Warhol biography

J.w. · 18 August 2022

Fascinating story of the wonderful life of one of our greatest artists ever.

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing Pictures

C. · 10 December 2019

A very interesting read. Warhol is a name you hear bandied about all the time but it was great to finally get a better understanding of the man behind the art.I know it's only an advanced copy but I really do hope that this book will contain images. I feel I am missing a whole bunch of context that could be provided with visuals

3.0 out of 5 stars Readable but unscholarly

A.C. · 18 April 2020

A detailed and highly readable account of the life at extraordinary length but utterly useless as scholarship because there are no notes.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast efficient service

D. · 24 November 2020

Product exactly as described and in excellent condition for used item. Arrived very quickly, even earlier than expected. Very satisfied.

5.0 out of 5 stars Above and beyond what I expected.

s.t. · 2 November 2020

Excellent condition. As good as the library version I had to return.

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for all Warhol fans

T.L. · 24 August 2020

This is a great thick book to add to your Warhol collection.

5.0 out of 5 stars An in-depth biography of Andy Warhol and his world

V.O. · 19 December 2019

‘Warhol A Life as Art’ by Blake Gropnik is a huge book, coming in at 960 pages including sources and index. As the book I received from Vine was an advance reading copy, I don’t know if the final edition will contain pictures of Warhol and his works. However, when necessary I made use of the internet to search for relevant images.As a former student of art history I had a passing awareness of Warhol’s life and work though this comprehensive biography provided a year-by-year chronicle of both from birth through his first and second deaths. Each chapter contains useful headings of the key events covered in them.Gropnik notes that aside from utilising the archives and collections held by The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh he also conducted 260 interviews with friends, lovers, colleagues, and acquaintances and consulted 100,000 period documents. That is a very impressive undertaking.While it is clearly a well researched biography written by someone with an established reputation as an art critic and journalist, it is also very readable. I found that I was increasing my knowledge of the art scene of the period as well as making connections to other movements in art history.I hadn’t considered a link between Warhol and Marcel Duchamp’s legacy though describing aspects of Warhol’s work as Duchampesque made sense as Duchamp challenged the concept of the nature of art. Gropnik writes: “At its best, Warhol’s art always balanced on the edge between satire and reverence, whether its subjects were soup cans or celebrities.”It also came as a revelation that the powerful New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) held an anti-Pop Art stance; though I did appreciate that curators and art critics wielded tremendous power to make or break careers. As Gropnik observes: “The status and popularity that Pop Art eventually earned can blind us to the cruel world it was born into.” They may have tried to prevent the ascent of Warhol and pop art but ultimately failed.Much of the biography focuses on the early years of his career up to his near fatal shooting in 1968. Warhol emerges as very hardworking and driven to create.I had not appreciated the many areas that Warhol explored outside of his pop art and avant-garde filmmaking including forays into magazine editing, acting and his career as a portraitist to the wealthy and powerful. Again, I never would have made a link between Warhol and the more traditional portrait work of Thomas Gainsborough yet it made sense when Gropnik noted the connection.Gropnik writes towards the end of the biography:“At his best, Warhol didn’t think outside the box. He thought outside any artistic universe whose laws would allow boxes to exist. Warhol always wanted to make work for a world where x and not-x would be true at the same time.”More than anything this biography revealed Warhol as very human. That he loved cats and was often lonely even when surrounded by his entourage wasn’t a surprise but the obsessive collecting and shopaholic tendencies were. He also came across as kind, which counters the popular image of his coldness. As Gropnik notes: “If we are tempted to see the common decency of Warhol’s final years as a late-in-life conversion to virtue, this may be because we failed to understand that Drella was decent all along.” (Note: Drella was an affectionate nickname given to Warhol combining Dracula with Cinderella.)Gropnik provided me not only with a great deal of insight into Warhol’s life and work but with a broader appreciation of mid-20th Century art and culture. It was thought-provoking and a pleasure to read.A biography that certainly I would expect will be appreciated by those interested in the history of modern art and by the work of this singular modern artist. Highly recommended.

Well Researched

E.B. · 10 January 2022

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } So far this is best biography on Andy Warhol. It was meticulously researched and reflected all the good and bad of Mr. Warhol. He was a genius at drawing out the artistry in the mundane. I don't think anyone else could have done that. The stars must have been in alignment just as they were for the Beatles. Not likely to happen again.

Excellent - A fresh look at Warhol

R. · 18 May 2021

If you want a complete and unbiased account of Andy Warhol, read this. I've read all the others and this is the first unbiased account I've come across - much better (in my opinion) than Pat Hackett's which I purchased at the exhibition and sold by Warhol industries. The author revisits every claim made about Warhol's motives in art and in regards to his followers. Much new info to think about. Great point of view without being judgmental. And fun reading!

Seemed Too Long

F. · 5 July 2020

I grew up with Andy Warhol as a cultural icon, but I didn't really know much about him. Also, I am a big fan of Lou Reed and I was curious how they got to know each other and about their relationship. After all, Reed (along with John Cale) made a memorial album for Warhol after his death, I figured there had to be some close connection.I was disappointed on both points. Well, I did learn a lot about Warhol and the people around him, but it seemed mostly superficial. I don't understand him any better, and I never got a strong impression that the author understood him either.On the positive side, the book contains a wealth of information about the New York art scene in the fifties and sixties. This would be a great book for an art history class, with its many references to people and places.On the other hand, Warhol's homosexuality seemed to be the true emphasis of the book, with almost every reference to Warhol or his art pointing out how gay he or his art was. That seemed to be the primary interest the author had in Warhol, rather than his art.For me the book seemed way too long. Too much trivia was included. Maybe a good edit would have helped.

The definitive biography!

D.F. · 7 July 2020

Comprehensive, to say the least. It's almost a 1000 pages!. Post WWWII New York is a passion of mine, and this book has that in spades. Beautifully written, the commercial years, POP, film, movies, late period collaborations with Jean Michel Basquiat, all are rendered in gorgeous prose and jaw-dropping detail. I would recommend most vociferously that the reader of "Wahol" IMMEDIATELY read Bob Colacello's marvelous "Holy Terror," about his years working for Andy. It gives a whole new insight into the stellar work Gopnick has done, illuminating Andy Warhol in a whole new personal light.

good book

m. · 7 August 2020

this is a well researched book. it is very long, however it is very good.