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Edited by Jean Stein and George Plimpton, this massive oral biography does well the formidable job of presenting a tragic life, the Warhol scene, and even the old families of New England. Edie Sedgwick died at age 28 after becoming famous as the first Factory girl, an Oscar Wilde/Paris Hilton fame of being oneself first, and then pursuing projects afterward. The interview subjects range from Truman Capote to Andy Warhol to Gregory Corso to various family members, and are presented without background information in short, numbered chapters. Even on the base level of organization this biography is impressive: how do you edit thousands and thousands of interviews with over 250 people into a compelling, thorough narrative? I highly, highly recommend this one. Edie herself is a mysterious character you feel only lived for other people, failing at living at all for herself. She had no interior, simply something distracted by cameras, alcohol, and massive drug use. Fitting that this life then is shown through the voices of other people. You get the sense, tragically, that nobody really knew her because there was no real "her" to know: she merely existed as a media moment, something beautiful—not 10 pages pass without someone reminiscing of their first sight and coup de foudre of Edie—that in order to be famous couldn't exist in the normal world. The book performs the basic task of relating her life from birth to death, but also works as a critique of how modern fame functions in America. Nobody comes out better on the other side: casualties are listed throughout, even touching Warhol through his near-fatal shooting by Valerie Solanas and his subsequent reclusion. Everything is presented plainly, in a quietly devastating style. An excellent book.

2022-12-18 03:22