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How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great (Minerva Clark #2)
by
Karen Karbo (Goodreads Author)
How to Hepburn, Karen Karbo's sleek, contemporary reassessment of one of America's greatest icons, takes us on a spin through the great Kate's long, eventful life, with an aim toward seeing what we can glean from the First Lady of Cinema. One part How Proust Can Change Your Life and one part Why Sinatra Matters, How to Hepburn teases some unexpected lessons from the life o...more
Hardcover, 208 pages
Published
April 17th 2007
by Bloomsbury USA
(first published June 1976)
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If biographies were coffee, then Karen Karbo's book would be a mocha cafe latte. It's mostly sweet with froth on top. It does have some of the more dimensional coffee flavors underneath, but all in all, it's a social drink that you probably don't think much about.
Things I liked: Anything biographically related to Coco Chanel's history, story and rise to fame. The book gave me a peek into the fascinating personality of an influential person. I might actually try to read more on the woman. There...more
Things I liked: Anything biographically related to Coco Chanel's history, story and rise to fame. The book gave me a peek into the fascinating personality of an influential person. I might actually try to read more on the woman. There...more
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
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
The title of this book is a tad misleading. It suggests a self-help guide providing the reader with tips on how to emulate Hepburn's charisma or success. But that would be absurd and unachievable. Rather, it's a series of vignettes and anecdotes showcasing the qualities which made Hepburn such an alluring, unnerving, and enduring Hollywood persona.
They said she was box office poison, too. Then she won an Oscar.
(And another. And another. And another.)
This is a fun read for Hepburn fans looking t...more
They said she was box office poison, too. Then she won an Oscar.
(And another. And another. And another.)
This is a fun read for Hepburn fans looking t...more
Despite the interesting bits of biographical information and the entertaining social critique, the book is messy, tired, and tries to hard to squeeze Hepburn into a predetermined pattern.
Oct 23, 2008
Audrey
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
no one - don't waste your time
Recommended to Audrey by:
WHEW Book Club
I read for two reasons - entertainment and education. At the risk of being brash, this book contains neither.
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
FIRST IMPRESSION:
I first borrowed this sometime last year. I wanted to read a mystery, but then I put it down. I think it's because we were shifting houses, and I thought I may lose the library books if I didn't return them. But anyhow, I was about a third into the book and wasn't sure where it was going.
WRITING STYLE:
I quite like the writing style. It's efficient, doesn't waste time on descriptions. But then, I can also picture the characters very well. So it's a fairly good writing style, in m...more
By most accounts Katharine Hepburn was bossy, stubborn, moody, self-important, often crabby, and generally difficult to be around. So why, you may ask, would one want to emulate her? Because, I answer, at a time when women were decorative at best, and second class citizens at worst, Katharine Hepburn lived her life exactly as she wanted to. She wore pants when it was not only unfashionable for women to wear pants, but downright shocking. She pursued her chosen career with the kind of single-mind...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
En g��n��ral, je n'ai pas examiner les livres parce que je ne suis pas une personne critique. Cependant, je dois vous dire, c'est un livre tr��s agr��able. Je l'ai lu en vacances et c'��tait le livre id��al pour voyager. Mademoiselle Chanel ne d����oit jamais. S'il ya un culte de Chanel, je suis un disciple. Mme Karbo ne soit diappoint.
Le seul point n��gatif que j'ai, c'est que le livre a une erreur puntuation. Sinon, je recommande ce livre comme un amusement, lumi��re, lecture int��ressante.
Le seul point n��gatif que j'ai, c'est que le livre a une erreur puntuation. Sinon, je recommande ce livre comme un amusement, lumi��re, lecture int��ressante.
1 like · like · see review
This book is about a 7th-grader named Minerva who finds impermeable self-confidence and courage after receiving an electric shock. Minerva goes on to solve a complicated murder mystery involving her own friends and family members.
I liked this book because I could relate to Minerva. She was very critical of herself, very shy, and had difficulty being herself and being honest with other people. I admired how brave and "real" she was after being shocked, and hope to eventually experience a similar...more
I liked this book because I could relate to Minerva. She was very critical of herself, very shy, and had difficulty being herself and being honest with other people. I admired how brave and "real" she was after being shocked, and hope to eventually experience a similar...more
Although I think the fashion world is more ridiculous than most soap operas, I nonetheless do view certain designers as true artists. Coco Chanel may not have been Galliano-tastic or have the quirkiness of Gaultier, but she created a baseline of elegance that few designers have reached. The book is less about fashion, I feel, and more about creating the self. Chanel, like most designers, was her own biggest fan. She would have to be in the cut-throat arena of fashion. Her iconoclastic and legend...more
Since the closest I will ever come to the world of couture is being addicted to Project
Runway, I really enjoyed this peek into the rise of Coco Chanel. Truly a self-made woman, it she we have to thank for freeing women from corsets and upholstery fabric dresses. It is also her fault that fashion now favors the ultra thin and boyish figure, because she looked like that and made clothes for people who looked like her. She was quite a fascinating creature, and I give you a sample of her aphorisms...more
Runway, I really enjoyed this peek into the rise of Coco Chanel. Truly a self-made woman, it she we have to thank for freeing women from corsets and upholstery fabric dresses. It is also her fault that fashion now favors the ultra thin and boyish figure, because she looked like that and made clothes for people who looked like her. She was quite a fascinating creature, and I give you a sample of her aphorisms...more
I bought this for a fashionista friend's birthday, and thanks to Amazon's timely delivery, had time to read it before I wrapped it up in some pretty paper and handed it over. Shameless of me, yes I know. I have to say I did not expect this to be something I would find even remotely interesting, but it turned out to be a fun and quick study. It is not the best biography, but as the title suggests it is not aiming to be such anyway, which makes its foibles easy to forgive. I found its charming lit...more
Interesting & easy to read book on Coco Chanel. Author expounds on Chanelore. What a life! Still don't understand why she slept with the enemy (Spatz was a Nazi). Suppose it was love. The question is: was she a spy for the Nazis, even if indirectly? Most French women who dallied or slept with Nazis were killed at war's end for fraternizing with the enemy. Coco was spared thanks to Winston Churchill and other friends. The question still lingers, though. Another recent book on Coco that came o...more
This is a good one to skip unless you really don't have anything better to read. I generally enjoy these "light" books about fashion and fashion divas but I this one didn't have many redeeming qualities. Chanel is an enigma. She intentionally kept her private life obscure (mostly by lying about it!) and no amount of research is going to unearth much about her. I adore Chanel, partly because she is so unknowable. I didn't expect to find many facts in here that I didn't already know. I got what I...more
I have been so interested in the history of Coco Channel ever since I saw the movie "Avant Channel." This book is so great because it combines history of Coco Channel with her ideas and successes. It compares her opinions of fashion to her rivals of the time, also to Karl Lagerfeld designs, who has been chief designer of Chanel's fashion house since 1983. The book is fascinating because Coco lived a radical, scandalous, but beautiful life.
Oct 23, 2012
Cassie
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
self help gurus, fashionistas
Recommended to Cassie by:
Ben Pierce
For the most part, I'm on board with Karbo's spin on Chanel. Part biography, part guide to life and a smidge of self help, I can let myself believe that I'm just chic enough follow Chanel's "rules of engagement" while reading. What threw me was Karbo's section on femininity. Specifically, when she declares that any good relationship needs some irrationality. And not just your run-of-the-mill whacky misunderstandings--but plate-throwing, tear-inducing, dramatics-flying irrationality. Karbo even g...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.
Apr 03, 2011
Emily
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
favorites
I almost didn't pick this book up because the title was a little cliche and gave me the impression that this would be some sort of religious book. It's not. I think that if I were going to re-title it, I would go with something like Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman: Coco Chanel (though more catchy). I really felt like the subtitle did for me what the title did not. Lucky after reading the first few pages in the bookstore I felt like it would be a good book despite it's title. And...more
Really a two and a half. Three stars for the biographical info on Chanel, two stars for the writing, evens out to two and a half stars.
I read this at the same time as I was reading The Paris Wife and A Moveable Feast for book club. It was a fun little synergy, as passing references to Hemingway are made in this book and passing references to Chanel were made in both of the Hemingway-related books.
I really liked learning about Chanel and some of the "life lessons" made sense, but too often the au...more
I read this at the same time as I was reading The Paris Wife and A Moveable Feast for book club. It was a fun little synergy, as passing references to Hemingway are made in this book and passing references to Chanel were made in both of the Hemingway-related books.
I really liked learning about Chanel and some of the "life lessons" made sense, but too often the au...more
This book is three parts biography, one part self-help, along with a few of the author's related personal experiences on her quest to acquire a Chanel jacket. Chanel led an interesting and inspiring life, so I'm not sure it's possible to write a book about her that's not at least somewhat interesting. I particularly enjoyed the various anecdote's about Chanel and her famously sharp wit. However, I was somewhat put off by the sweeping generalizations (often relating to gender) that Karbo makes t...more
It feels reasonable to presume that a work called "The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman" might be clearly organized into life lessons -- such as with a list -- or, at the very least, have a straightforward assessment of how Chanel became a style icon. This book is repetitive, poorly copy-edited and weakly written. Yes, author Karen Karbo did talk about how Chanel's style differed from that of her contemporaries and the fabrics she favored. But she...more
Yeaach...is that how you spell that? I decided that this was the summer I would read light and fluffy "beach reads" and this book was to be my last hurrah. I can honestly say I am glad it's fall after reading this! Please don't read this book unless you want to learn how to use the word "brash" 8 times in a sentence.
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.
I never cared much about Coco Chanel before. About a year ago my fiancé and I made an early night of an evening in San Francisco and caught the Lifetime movie Coco Chanel. There were mixed reviews about the movie but I enjoyed learning the life of this creature of fashion. The other day, I stumbled across this book. After reading it I am completely enamored. Her story is compelling, her achievements great and what I like best about her is her persistence. She never once gave up. She took it easy...more
Mademoiselle Chanel is a very strong, opinionated woman. I would have loved to read more details of her fashion collections or see pictures, but that is not what this book is about. It shows the story of Chanel’s life & the choices she made. It was a very good read. The thing I didn't understand is how Chanel could disregard her past so easily (in the beginning being awful, losing her parents and growing up in a orphanage then wonderful and creating beautiful works of high fashion art). The...more
If you're a Chanel buff, as I am, you'll find this chatty recounting of the life of Coco Chanel entertaining. Karen Kabo's breezy style, laced with humor, makes this book an easy read. She recounts Mlle. Chanel's rise from humble roots to a fashion industry icon. Starting with her conversion of a popular men's straw hat of the day, referred to as a "boater" (think barbershop quartet here), into a must-have hat for women, Chanel went on to stitch up fashionable suits for women from humble left-ov...more
This is a biography of Coco Chanel. It seems that there was not a lot of factual information available, so there is speculation on the part of the writer. It ends up being charming, though. Ms. Karbo mixes old-fashioned elegance with modern wit. And of course there is her search for the perfect Chanel jacket. Read the book to find out if the author obtains one!
This book gave me a hankering for Chanel No. 19, but I am pretty sure they don't sell that at T.J. Maxx so I probably won't be buying any...more
This book gave me a hankering for Chanel No. 19, but I am pretty sure they don't sell that at T.J. Maxx so I probably won't be buying any...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Would this book be appropriete for a high schooler? | 5 | 7 | May 18, 2013 10:51am | |
| WASP | 3 | 10 | Oct 27, 2008 03:54am |
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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Apr 22, 2012 05:21pm