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How Georgia Became O'Keeffe: Lessons on the Art of Living
by
Karen Karbo (Goodreads Author)
A fresh, revealing look at the artist who continues to inspire new generations of women.
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
November 15th 2011
by skirt!
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I read this for my local Book Club. We're planning a trip down to Ghost Ranch (though I don't know if I'm going to be able to go yet).
Karbo's approach to this biography is an interesting one. She works steadily through the historical details of O'Keeffe's life, art, and marriage in the context of "lessons" that the reader can apply to her own life. I don't usually enjoy this kind of "self-help" style, but Karbo's self-deprecating, this-is-my-life-too anecdotes made it much more tolerable. Reali...more
Karbo's approach to this biography is an interesting one. She works steadily through the historical details of O'Keeffe's life, art, and marriage in the context of "lessons" that the reader can apply to her own life. I don't usually enjoy this kind of "self-help" style, but Karbo's self-deprecating, this-is-my-life-too anecdotes made it much more tolerable. Reali...more
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If this hadn't been the selection for our book club this month I would have stopped reading it after the first two chapters. I found the author's style intensely irritating and, given the comments she made throughout the book, I have no faith it was thoroughly researched. She gives advice that is often ridiculous and (at times) contradictory. This author chooses fascinating subjects (O'Keeffe, Hepburn, Chanel), but her style made it very difficult for me to pick up the book at all, let alone fin...more
This is an entertaining book written with wit in Karbo’s unique style. She doesn’t write the traditional biography, but talks about Georgia O’Keefe’s life and what she did in terms of today’s culture. Her tone is conversational and funny.
It fascinates me that O’Keefe paid absolutely NO attention to clothing fashion or convention. She wore no makeup and sewed her own long black sheath-like dresses. She pulled her dark hair straight back from her face and most often wore it in a bun. Can you imag...more
It fascinates me that O’Keefe paid absolutely NO attention to clothing fashion or convention. She wore no makeup and sewed her own long black sheath-like dresses. She pulled her dark hair straight back from her face and most often wore it in a bun. Can you imag...more
In the eighties I considered Georgia O'Keeffe the closet I would come to having a mentor. I was a writer she was an artist in her nineties. What I saw in her work was freedom, a freedom that existed for women if they jumped into life with both feet. I saw strength to strike out on one's own. I only read one biography and found it dull. Mostly I relied on her art: the bones, flowers, and skyscrapers. When I heard an interview with Karen Karbo, I decided maybe I'd see what she had to say about O'K...more
I really enjoyed this light-hearted yet factual account of Georgia O'Keeffe's life and art.
The author sets her book apart from the myriad other O'Keeffe bios by getting to the heart of what many readers are after--what was Georgia O'Keeffe really like--without making it a weighty dissection.
I personally loved the footnotes scattered about the pages, for they made the book seem like a fun conversation.
The author sets her book apart from the myriad other O'Keeffe bios by getting to the heart of what many readers are after--what was Georgia O'Keeffe really like--without making it a weighty dissection.
I personally loved the footnotes scattered about the pages, for they made the book seem like a fun conversation.
It's a new book and it's about O'Keeffe, whom I love beyond reason, so of course I had to read it. Turns out the book is a weird self-help / memoir / biography thing with a profusion of allegedly pithy footnotes, that came off as being self-indulgent.
Apr 08, 2013
Joy Weese Moll
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Joy Weese by:
Natasha Floyd-Vasillis
First off, I love what this book is. I kept stopping to appreciate the way biography weaves with memoir and interlaces with self-help. The experience felt new and modern and, yet, builds on the essays of Montaigne and the journaling of the American Transcendentalists. From O’Keeffe’s life we learn how to build a life that allows for creativity (get off the Internet), how to make a marriage last even when it might not have been the wisest of marriages (find his foibles amusing), and how to age we...more
I read this book in order to learn more about Georgia O'Keeffe and to participate in a museum book club event. While I am happy to learn more about O'Keeffe, about her life, her opinions, and especially her work, I found this book very skimpy in all those areas. Instead, Karbo fills us in on cutesy stuff about life as a woman dealing with overbearing men, about less than supportive parents, about all varieties of current and discredited pop-psychology, about the advantage of having your mother t...more
Jul 30, 2012
Joy
is currently reading it
A fresh, revealing look at the artist who continues to inspire new generations of women
Most people associate Georgia O’Keeffe with New Mexico, painted cow skulls, and her flower paintings. She was revered for so long—born in 1887, died at age ninety-eight in 1986—that we forget how young, restless, passionate, searching, striking, even fearful she once was—a dazzling, mysterious female force in bohemian New York City during its heyday.
In this distinctive book, Karen Karbo cracks open the O’Keeff...more
Most people associate Georgia O’Keeffe with New Mexico, painted cow skulls, and her flower paintings. She was revered for so long—born in 1887, died at age ninety-eight in 1986—that we forget how young, restless, passionate, searching, striking, even fearful she once was—a dazzling, mysterious female force in bohemian New York City during its heyday.
In this distinctive book, Karen Karbo cracks open the O’Keeff...more
I read this for bookclub. Was looking forward to it because I love Georgia O'Keeffe - I was in Albuquerque for a conference years ago, and one of the highlights of the trip was the day we "played hooky" and went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe. She was an outstanding individual and a strong personality. I love looking at her paintings.
I liked learning more about O'Keeffe's life. Was she ahead of her time, or was she the type of person who would seem out of place in any time? She seeme...more
I liked learning more about O'Keeffe's life. Was she ahead of her time, or was she the type of person who would seem out of place in any time? She seeme...more
My mother read this for her book club and thought it was fabulous. Our reading tastes don't generally mesh well, but she spoke of this so highly and made it sound so interesting and we both adore O'Keeffe's work that I asked to borrow it when she was done.
Sadly, I really didn't like it. This was more like a self-help book peppered with vignettes and the occasional O'Keeffe reproductions (admittedly full-color and gorgeous) than a proper biography. Karbo's conversational, touchy-feely, 'I'm your...more
Sadly, I really didn't like it. This was more like a self-help book peppered with vignettes and the occasional O'Keeffe reproductions (admittedly full-color and gorgeous) than a proper biography. Karbo's conversational, touchy-feely, 'I'm your...more
I'd never heard never heard of Georgia O'Keefe before we visited New Mexico in 2009. Sure, now I know that O'Keefe is one of the US's most celebrated artists but back then I had no idea. But you can't spend long in Santa Fe and Taos though without being drawn into the world of O'Keefe's incredible paintings and her love of the landscape and light. Karen Karbo's style is very different from what you'd normally expect from biographies. As much about her own discovery of O'Keefe, the book provides...more
A delicious and smart book that delves into artist Georgia O'Keeffe's youth and art, with large doses of the author's own opinions. She references Twitter and social connectedness to contrast our era with the artist's. (Her advice on becoming O'Keeffe: get the dumbest phone available, forget the apps, ignore your email and read.) The author shares her views on good and bad art instruction, laissez-faire parenting and gender politics- in Georgia's time and ours. She addresses with flair Georgia's...more
"There is a bit of a bitch in every good cook" - Georgia O'Keefe
"A marriage is a civilization, the couple at the ceter of it, king and queen. When it falls apart, the entire population suffers."
I love the way this author writes. This isn't just a dry biography. The author artfully weaves in lessons/ stories from her own life, while giving us more than a glimpse into Georgia's complicated life. This really is a telling of Georgia's life in the context of imparting lessons from her life - and thos...more
"A marriage is a civilization, the couple at the ceter of it, king and queen. When it falls apart, the entire population suffers."
I love the way this author writes. This isn't just a dry biography. The author artfully weaves in lessons/ stories from her own life, while giving us more than a glimpse into Georgia's complicated life. This really is a telling of Georgia's life in the context of imparting lessons from her life - and thos...more
This was our book club selection this month. I love O'Keeffe, so I was glad to read this. This is an extremely light book. At times, I found the author intrusion to be annoying, at times I enjoyed it.
The book is part-biography of O'Keeffe, and part exploration of some of the things that she did/symbolized with her life. It's NOT a deep read and it's a really fast read that goes well with summer.
I'm pretty sure that opinions are going to be polarized with this book. We have a few visual artists i...more
The book is part-biography of O'Keeffe, and part exploration of some of the things that she did/symbolized with her life. It's NOT a deep read and it's a really fast read that goes well with summer.
I'm pretty sure that opinions are going to be polarized with this book. We have a few visual artists i...more
Feb 07, 2013
Carra
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-woman
Though this biography certainly peaked my interest in Georgia O'Keeffe's life and art, I found it to be frustratingly shallow. I would have liked for O'Keeffe's own voice be "heard" more. Also, the writer's inclusion of parts from her own life experience annoyed me to no end! Get over yourself, I am not interested in your life, and it did not add one yota to the story at hand.
Still, as an introduction, this book will do, and I will definitely read more about Georgia O'Keeffe, a fascinating artis...more
Still, as an introduction, this book will do, and I will definitely read more about Georgia O'Keeffe, a fascinating artis...more
A light-hearted write-up about GOK told in a very modern way. Not sure how it will stand up to the passing of time (could become very dated in its contemporary voice) but I thoroughly enjoyed Karbo's take on this great artist's life.
I never had a desire before to explore O'Keeffe's life and work which is strange, considering I too have painted blossoms and bones. My interest has been piqued by thia dynamic individual who did her own thing and I want to know more, beyond the Karbo biography. I...more
I have admired Georgia O'Keeffe since I was a teenager and I never tire of her viewing her paintings. (A print of "Black Hollyhock, Blue Larkspur" hangs in my living room). She could work magic with color and I love how she spent many of her years in New Mexico. She is also one of the few women who really made it in the art world...and she did it while remaining true to herself.
This was an easy light read that made me want to read a more serious biography. I appreciate that Karbo has written ot...more
This was an easy light read that made me want to read a more serious biography. I appreciate that Karbo has written ot...more
A very personal, even sassy take on O'keeffe's marriage and career. It won't replace a standard biography, not does it intend to, but it's a lively companion to bring along if, like me, you have a thing about O'Keeffe and travel to New Mexico to follow her trail.
A woman who reads about Georgia O'Keeffe and views her paintings immerses herself in optimism, boldness, and determination. Karen Karbo has written a lively, entertaining, and interesting biography of this original, courageous, and fascinating artist. She includes quirky details embedded in a serious tone, and you do not become bogged down with the struggles O'Keeffe endured. The author adds humorous footnotes all through the book, but at times I felt it was enough already and that it sometimes...more
This book fell off the shelf in front of my sister in the Collected Works bookstore in Santa Fe. O'Keefe and Santa Fe - who could resist? So she bought it and it's on loan to me for the moment.
Karbo writes biography with a light touch. She includes the important parts of Georgia O'Keefe's life and adds a snarky commentary that's usually fun. It was the right read for a vacation in O'Keefe's New Mexico where I wanted to know more about the artist but didn't want to work too hard.
Karbo writes biography with a light touch. She includes the important parts of Georgia O'Keefe's life and adds a snarky commentary that's usually fun. It was the right read for a vacation in O'Keefe's New Mexico where I wanted to know more about the artist but didn't want to work too hard.
I simply adored this book.
A must read for any woman who appreciates the finding of one's truest self and the story of a woman who we see as having had it all together but who, in many ways, (endearingly) was exactly like the rest of us.
You can tell that Karbo loves O'Keefes story as well and her writing in it's honesty, is infectiously uplifting.
Did I mention I loved this book?
A must read for any woman who appreciates the finding of one's truest self and the story of a woman who we see as having had it all together but who, in many ways, (endearingly) was exactly like the rest of us.
You can tell that Karbo loves O'Keefes story as well and her writing in it's honesty, is infectiously uplifting.
Did I mention I loved this book?
Even though you'd expect a book about artist Georgia O'Keeffe to be serious, this is a hoot. Karbo uses funny anecdotes & asides to make a point. Kept me laughing. I'd tried plowing through a 600-page tome on O'Keeffe & it was so tedious, painstakingly researched, I quit after 150 pages. While this latest book is light-weight in comparison, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Words cannot express how much I loved this book!
Karbo has a great sense of humor and uses it to keep the talking about O'Keeffe's life fresh. She also gives you ideas on how to apply parts of O'Keeffe's life and story to your own.
I will be recommending this to artistic female friends for months. Definitely a fantastic read!
Karbo has a great sense of humor and uses it to keep the talking about O'Keeffe's life fresh. She also gives you ideas on how to apply parts of O'Keeffe's life and story to your own.
I will be recommending this to artistic female friends for months. Definitely a fantastic read!
Oct 07, 2012
Jennifer
is currently reading it
For some reason, Georgia O'Keeffe called out to me out of the blue. Perhaps it is because I am in love with Santa Fe and New Mexico beauty (I will be traveling there for the 5 time in my life over up-coming Holidays). I am enjoying this book on the fascinating Georgia O'Keeffe and love the life lessons intertwined.
I loved this book! A refreshing biography where it wasn't so dry I needed a gallon of water to get through it. She looks at O'Keeffe from a refreshingly human point of view, not that of an over-theasaurusized art historian. I feel like I have gotten a good look at who Georgia was as a woman and an artist.
I'm not sure I learned any lessons on the art of living but I learned a few things about Georgia O'Keeffe. I'm not sure I liked everything I learned about her but she seemed to be quite an individual. I enjoyed the author's sense of humor but I don't know that I want to read any of her other books.
Great modern perspective on the well-known artist. She came alive within the pages of this book and seemed to overcome the stuffiness of the Victorian Era and the demands of Mr. Stieglitz! She still serves as an inspiration to me and countless other artists of this new millenium
Will this be the most profound and life-changing thing you ever read? Probably not, but it is witty and wise. If you are a fan of art or women or eccentrics nothing here is new to you, but Karbo's weaving of her life in with Georgia's is what makes this book worth your time.
Hmmmm.....I'm not sure what I think about this book. My fascination with O'Keeffe carried me through but it read like a chick lit gossip column and was a bit too "cute". I guess I just didn't get the purpose of it and the author is correct, Georgia would not like this!!
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Karen Karbo's first novel, Trespassers Welcome Here, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a Village Voice Top Ten Book of the Year. Her other two adult novels, The Diamond Lane and Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me, were also named New York Times Notable Books.
Karbo's 2004 memoir, The Stuff of Life, about the last year she spent with her father before his death, was an NYT Notable Book...more
More about Karen Karbo...
Karbo's 2004 memoir, The Stuff of Life, about the last year she spent with her father before his death, was an NYT Notable Book...more
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