Edie: American Girl

Rating:
Summary: Edie:An American Review
Review: Although this book is over twenty years old, it is still a good source of info about this "Girl of 1965", Edie Sedgwick. Not only does the book document the rise of Edie at Andy Warhol's Factory, it chronicles her wacky childhood of privledge and turbulent teen years. Her sisters and only surviving brother give detailed accounts of Edie and her struggle with eating disorders and frequent hospitalizations. The family also talks about the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father, Francis Sedgwick, and the effect it had on the entire family. "Edie" is a great read on a life of a woman whose life ended long ago in a time that seems unreal to most young people of today. "Edie" not only documents a time in pop history ,but a life which was lived tragically wrong and gave out all too soon.

Rating:
Summary: Edie:An American Review
Review: Although this book is over twenty years old, it is still a good source of info about this "Girl of 1965", Edie Sedgwick. Not only does the book document the rise of Edie at Andy Warhol's Factory, it chronicles her wacky childhood of privledge and turbulent teen years. Her sisters and only surviving brother give detailed accounts of Edie and her struggle with eating disorders and frequent hospitalizations. The family also talks about the abuse they suffered at the hands of their father, Francis Sedgwick, and the effect it had on the entire family. "Edie" is a great read on a life of a woman whose life ended long ago in a time that seems unreal to most young people of today. "Edie" not only documents a time in pop history ,but a life which was lived tragically wrong and gave out all too soon.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing/fascinating look at a lost soul in pop-era NYcity
Review: As a small-town west coast preteen in the 60s and self-absorbed teen in the 70s I was peripherally aware of the "pop" scene in New York City (mostly from my mother shaking her head over the photos and stories in "Life" magazine). When "Edie" was published I ran across it in a book club review and it just sounded intriguing. I ended up reading "Edie" so many times the cover practically fell off. Then a few years ago it mysteriously vanished from my bookshelves -- did I lend it to someone who was as morbidly fascinated as I by the tragic rise and fall of "Warhol's little queen" (as the Cult song says)??? One thing's for sure: Edie was a victim of Warhol's astounding ego -- or madness -- sucked into the black hole of his twisted little soul. Of course, she came from a long line of borderline personalities in a high-society family. The excesses of the 60s were absolutely the end of the road -- or rope -- for many of these types. As one who "missed" the whole self-indulgent and uncontrolled scene, after reading "Edie" I finally realized that I'm much better off having just read about those times. It's a real collage of that generation's high-fliers and fringe dwellers that will not cease to amaze. So why am I writing this review now? I just heard the song I referred to earlier, the Cult's "Edie," and I am now ordering a new copy of the book. Plimpton's word-of-mouth writing style brings the viewpoints of so many people who were there it's like theater in the round, or something -- you see and experience the scene from every angle. You don't hear just from the heads and freaks, you hear from the spectrum of New York's inhabitants, plus many of Edie's kinfolk. I recommend the book to anyone who likes to see how the stranger half live and who wants to experience the story-book coming of age and final degradation of a fragile, lovely girl who was caught in the sordid vortex of the pop culture.

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing/fascinating look at a lost soul in pop-era NYcity
Review: As a small-town west coast preteen in the 60s and self-absorbed teen in the 70s I was peripherally aware of the "pop" scene in New York City (mostly from my mother shaking her head over the photos and stories in "Life" magazine). When "Edie" was published I ran across it in a book club review and it just sounded intriguing. I ended up reading "Edie" so many times the cover practically fell off. Then a few years ago it mysteriously vanished from my bookshelves -- did I lend it to someone who was as morbidly fascinated as I by the tragic rise and fall of "Warhol's little queen" (as the Cult song says)??? One thing's for sure: Edie was a victim of Warhol's astounding ego -- or madness -- sucked into the black hole of his twisted little soul. Of course, she came from a long line of borderline personalities in a high-society family. The excesses of the 60s were absolutely the end of the road -- or rope -- for many of these types. As one who "missed" the whole self-indulgent and uncontrolled scene, after reading "Edie" I finally realized that I'm much better off having just read about those times. It's a real collage of that generation's high-fliers and fringe dwellers that will not cease to amaze. So why am I writing this review now? I just heard the song I referred to earlier, the Cult's "Edie," and I am now ordering a new copy of the book. Plimpton's word-of-mouth writing style brings the viewpoints of so many people who were there it's like theater in the round, or something -- you see and experience the scene from every angle. You don't hear just from the heads and freaks, you hear from the spectrum of New York's inhabitants, plus many of Edie's kinfolk. I recommend the book to anyone who likes to see how the stranger half live and who wants to experience the story-book coming of age and final degradation of a fragile, lovely girl who was caught in the sordid vortex of the pop culture.

Rating:
Summary: Andy's 'Living' Metaphor
Review: Edie appears out of these pages at least as 'temporary' as Andy Warhol's art. In retrospect, I can see she subscribed to his theories and couldn't reconcile them to her blueblood heritage - I read it 20 years ago, but it only just made sense. Many have been down that track but few as committed as she was. Her relevance today may be greater than his, for she is a metaphor for the things of today that no longer work for many people viz urban decay, spiritual poverty and a loss of meaning/vision. Warhol's anti-hollywood and Hollywood became the same thing, and we are all a bit stronger for her legacy.

Rating:
Summary: READ THIS!
Review: Edie is a book that never fails to astonish. Although much of the book is about Warhol's Factory and ALL the people surrounding it, Edie does tend to be a centre character, providing the base for the book, much like in real life...She was a fixture of the factory, a piece of art in herself. Great photographs, excellent anecdotes (missing couch from moving van - where is it now?) You will never forget the self-destructive beauty that was EDIE!

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Edie Sedgwick was one of the hottest media events of the mid 1960's, a burning star enjoying the newest kind of fame - celebrity, i.e., being well-known for doing nothing except existing. Like so many of her generation, Miss Sedgwick crashed and burned (literally) at the end of the 1960's, dying of a barbituate overdose at the ripe old age of 28, after a series of well-publicized drug freakouts, accidents, and "rest cures" in mental hospitals. As other reviewers have noted, the conceit of telling Sedgwick's story through interviews with those who knew her is brilliant, producing a riveting narrative exposing to public view the inner workings of the many worlds in which Sedgwick moved - high-society, art, California biker, and East Village drug addict. Ultimately, Sedgwick impresses the reader as a force of nature, incredibly charismatic and compelling to those around her. Sadly, her glamour was not enough to save her from herself. What emerges from this book is a disturbing portrait of a world obsessed with money, fame, fashion and "fabulousness." As far as I could tell, this "glamourous" lifestyle seemed to consist chiefly of dressing foolishly, ingesting enormous quantities of drugs, copulating with anyone who showed an interest (of either sex), and living in a dreamworld of eternal youth and unending fame. Despite the vivid recollections of the interviewees, Sedgwick's life and "career" have left very few traces. Her death certificate described her as an "actress," but what Sedgwick "performances" can you think of today? She broke all the rules, but ultimately accomplished little. Not only was Sedgwick self-destructive and superficial, so was everyone else around her. The book is a stunning chronicle of an impatient era and a self-absorbed society convinced that the world belonged to it alone and that the party would never end. "Edie" is the perfect epitaph to the 1960's, a decade which "trumpeted fulfillment but achieved only confusion." (C. Paglia, 1991)

Rating:
Summary: Glamorous, Fabulous, and Pathetic
Review: Edie Sedgwick was one of the hottest media events of the mid 1960's, a burning star enjoying the newest kind of fame - celebrity, i.e., being well-known for doing nothing except existing. Like so many of her generation, Miss Sedgwick crashed and burned (literally) at the end of the 1960's, dying of a barbituate overdose at the ripe old age of 28, after a series of well-publicized drug freakouts, accidents, and "rest cures" in mental hospitals. As other reviewers have noted, the conceit of telling Sedgwick's story through interviews with those who knew her is brilliant, producing a riveting narrative exposing to public view the inner workings of the many worlds in which Sedgwick moved - high-society, art, California biker, and East Village drug addict. Ultimately, Sedgwick impresses the reader as a force of nature, incredibly charismatic and compelling to those around her. Sadly, her glamour was not enough to save her from herself. What emerges from this book is a disturbing portrait of a world obsessed with money, fame, fashion and "fabulousness." As far as I could tell, this "glamourous" lifestyle seemed to consist chiefly of dressing foolishly, ingesting enormous quantities of drugs, copulating with anyone who showed an interest (of either sex), and living in a dreamworld of eternal youth and unending fame. Despite the vivid recollections of the interviewees, Sedgwick's life and "career" have left very few traces. Her death certificate described her as an "actress," but what Sedgwick "performances" can you think of today? She broke all the rules, but ultimately accomplished little. Not only was Sedgwick self-destructive and superficial, so was everyone else around her. The book is a stunning chronicle of an impatient era and a self-absorbed society convinced that the world belonged to it alone and that the party would never end. "Edie" is the perfect epitaph to the 1960's, a decade which "trumpeted fulfillment but achieved only confusion." (C. Paglia, 1991)

Rating:
Summary: She aches like a woman but breaks just like a little girl
Review: Edie Sedgwick. Her name is synonymous with the 60s, Andy Warhol, glamour and the epitome of having it all and not knowing what to do with it. Edie was born into a well-to-do family that traces their roots back to the Mayflower. With all her family's gifts and trappings also came great mental issues and dysfunction. The book is told from the perspective of many friends and family members who knew the family and witnessed many of the horrors that made up the Sedgwicks. Edie's problems began way before she entered the Factory or the drug scene. Her father abused her and her siblings both mentally and physically (possibly sexually), cloistered the entire clan on a sprawling ranch in California and shut out any influence of the outside world. Before Edie was 20, two of her three brothers commited suicide and she herself was hospitalized for anorexia. After her first hospitaliztion (many more would come to follow), she enrolled at prestigious Harvard to roam around under the guise of studying sculpting before dropping out and heading to New York to model. It didn't take long for Edie to hook up with the "in crowd" in New York and soon she began making movies with Andy Warhol's Factory and becoming one of first Superstars. Edie's fashion sense and way of life became the counter culture of the 1960s. Like any 60s heroine (no pun intended), she also got caught up in the drug scene. Ultimately, her drug use and irratic behavior signaled the beginning of the end with her and Warhol. After burning up New York (literally), she high-tailed it back to California to try to salvage her life. She desperately hung on the her glory days, making sure every person she met knew she was "somebody". Edie's story ends predictably. Too much too soon and/or gluttony at its' best. This bio, though interesting, skips around aspects of Edie's life and leaves the reader wondering how she got to certain points. Told as a oral biography, tons of Edie's friends and family recall memories of her that are funny, sad and compelling. Some aspects of the book could have been left out (I.E: Tales of her biker friends towards the end of her life that have little to do with Edie). Black and white photos of Edie spanning her lifetime are spread throughout the book, along with a few newspaper articles about her. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Warhol's Factory or want to know more about the Poor Little Rich Girl. Though some questions about Edie may never be answered, this book is a cautionary tale of a life wasted and a girl who could not control herself despite having everything in life that is suppose to make one happy.

Rating:
Summary: A truly fascinating character
Review: Even though Edie only appears after about 200 pages, the rest of the book more than makes up for it. Very rarely do archetypes actually exist, but Edie was, at her peak, pure decadence. Almost more like a character in a novel than a real person, reading this book should disabuse anyone of the notion that living like Edie did was something worthwhile- she is truly best worshipped from afar.