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The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again)
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A loosely formed autobiography by Andy Warhol, told with his trademark blend of irony and detachment
In The Philosophy of Andy Warhol—which, with the subtitle "(From A to B and Back Again)," is less a memoir than a collection of riffs and reflections—he talks about love, sex, food, beauty, fame, work, money, and success; about New York, America, and his childhood in McKeesp ...more
In The Philosophy of Andy Warhol—which, with the subtitle "(From A to B and Back Again)," is less a memoir than a collection of riffs and reflections—he talks about love, sex, food, beauty, fame, work, money, and success; about New York, America, and his childhood in McKeesp ...more
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Paperback, 272 pages
Published
April 6th 1977
by Mariner Books
(first published 1975)
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Andy prefers amateur dramatics to Oscar-winning performances: "I can only understand really amateur performers or really bad performers, because whatever they do never really comes off, so therefore it can’t be phoney. But I can never understand really good, professional performers. Every professional performer I’ve ever seen always does exactly the same thing at exactly the same moment in every show they do. They know when the audience is going to laugh and when it’s going to get really interes
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Back when I was really serious about finding profound meaning in life, and thought for some reason that that meaning would somehow emanate from something outside myself, that the world itself should be steeped in it, I hated everything Warhol stood for (as I perceived it) - shallowness, flippancy, etc. - because of course I resented his apparent lack of interest in finding the type of deep meaning that interested me; but now that I've realized that any meaning that life might have resides only i
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i once wondered what the world would be like if, instead of a bible in every hotel room bedside table, there were this book. what kind of world would that be, if every bored, lonely person in a hotel room anywhere in the world disinterestedly picked up this book and thumbed through it before sleep?
don't let what you think you know about andy warhol keep you from reading this book. it is very funny, it is very self-conscious, and it is searingly DEAD ON in many, many places, especially as regards ...more
don't let what you think you know about andy warhol keep you from reading this book. it is very funny, it is very self-conscious, and it is searingly DEAD ON in many, many places, especially as regards ...more
Self indulgent and tedious nonsense.
I read a year later that Andy Warhol didn't even write this. Two staff members of his Interview magazine did it based on things Andy said and the way he was. But I loved and related to a lot of the ideas in the book or at least thought they were brilliant in their eccentricity. I really like the part about there are two kinds of people- people who are totally into having sex and are just so into it and the people who can't ever get into because they are so caught up in the idea of "I am having s
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"That forty-pound shopping bag full of rice that I bought in a panic is still sitting next to my bed," I said.
"So is mine, except it's eighty pounds and it's driving me crazy because the shopping bag doesn't match the curtains."
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"Some critic called me the Nothingness Himself and that didn't help my sense of existence any. Then I realized that existence itself is nothing and I felt better. But I'm still obsessed with the idea of looking into the mirror and seeing no one, nothing."
"I'm obsessed ...more
"So is mine, except it's eighty pounds and it's driving me crazy because the shopping bag doesn't match the curtains."
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"Some critic called me the Nothingness Himself and that didn't help my sense of existence any. Then I realized that existence itself is nothing and I felt better. But I'm still obsessed with the idea of looking into the mirror and seeing no one, nothing."
"I'm obsessed ...more
Andy Warhol makes me laugh. I'm not sure that was his intention, but I always reach for his books when I need a quick pick-me-up. In fact, I turned to this book straight after I'd read 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'. And sure enough, after a few pages I fell asleep and had the most blissful night's rest. (The last thing I read was talk about semen as a rejuvenating facial cream!)
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I’ve always had an on/off relationship with ‘The Philosophy of Andy Warhol’; non-committal. I’d pick it up every now a ...more
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I’ve always had an on/off relationship with ‘The Philosophy of Andy Warhol’; non-committal. I’d pick it up every now a ...more
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol is essential reading for Warhol fans because it's filled with Warhol's views on life, money, art, film, fashion and most importantly, himself. Portions of the book are about as close as we're going to get to a full-blown autobiography, Warhol Diaries notwithstanding.
He goes back in time to when he was a kid in school and picked on for his bad skin and awkward looks, which explains his cool detachment in general as a defense mechanism. Also poignant are his recollect ...more
He goes back in time to when he was a kid in school and picked on for his bad skin and awkward looks, which explains his cool detachment in general as a defense mechanism. Also poignant are his recollect ...more
A quick, witty read that offers a glance into Warhol's head and world, as he would like us to see it. Really enjoyed it.
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Andy Warhol, a well known Pop artist, advanced art in the market culture. He is the one who did the label for Campbell’s Soup cans for which he used hand-painted canvases. And, he is the one who developed the silkscreen technique to reproduce a picture multiple times by adding slightly different features in each reproduction (In the 1962 series of paintings with Marilyn Monroe, he introduced the ‘assembly line art’). Through the multiplication technique, Warhol presented the concept of ‘celebrit
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1. I decided to read this book because I am interested in Andy Warhol and his influence upon the current world and the commercialist mindset. I recently watched a documentary on him and he seemed like a very interesting and possibly neurotic kind of person, and I really enjoy delving into the minds and ideas of people who live in an altered reality.
2. This book completes the "diary, biography or autobiography" category in wider reading. Although it is not strictly any of these things, it contain ...more
2. This book completes the "diary, biography or autobiography" category in wider reading. Although it is not strictly any of these things, it contain ...more
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I was an early subscriber to Interview Magazine and as such, I was able to place an advance order for a copy of this book. When it arrived, I opened it and found that Andy Warhol had personally inscribed it to me, and had also done a quick sketch of a Campbell's soup can on the inside cover. Over the years, my oldest daughter has taken this book from my bookshelves many times, and I have always managed to steal it back. Included within its pages, not only will you find Andy's famous description
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To be honest I thought I would hate this, dont know why, just did. But omg I felt like I just read someones entire tumblr start to finish and I bloody loved it!!!
Warhol's persona here is at times enjoyable, at times pithy, at times profound, at times absurd, at times concerned with triviality (underwear brands), etc. Warhol's superficiality and the moments when he simply records the "buzz" he surrounded himself with (a B talking on the phone about how she cleans her house for pm an entire chapter, for example) can get a little depressing/spiritually draining. When you read a book you expect certain things; don't expect that here with Warhol. He subverts
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Two phone conversations, one trip to Italy, one to Macy's department store for some underwear, and a few short quips and aphorisms in which we are served a helping of the author's thoughts on love, money, work, fame and, somehow, underwear. That's mostly it. The persona that emerges from these pages is a very thick shell housing an introverted personality whose peculiar habits are borne out of the way in which his artistic sensibility reacts to the outside world. Fascinating in retrospect, but m
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When I was going through my arty phase, I loved this book! Now, that some time has passed I can't stand it. Warhol's ideas about money and what's American are still entertaining and apart of me, but the book has a lot of boring (and lengthy) passages about NOTHING. There were parts that I would not have been reading (for example, the detailed cleaning routine of one of Andy's friends) if they weren't by Warhol.
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This book went from midly interesting to boring at times. The last 2 chapters are a yawn. I don't know whether to believe any of it, especially the constant rant of wanting to be alone most of the time. I do wish he was alive to live in the 21st century, he would have loved all the digital art that is being made today. And it would have been interesting to see what he would have produced.
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Disappointing. a few nice lines.
Dec 24, 2016
Amy
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
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It's Andy Warhol, of course it's going to be a good book.
Thank you Beth for buying me this! ...more
Thank you Beth for buying me this! ...more
This book is (probably) my most favorite book of all time ever. There were at least three years of my life where every decision I made was influenced by this book. In fact, I wrote down my favorite lines in a sketchbook so that if I ever lost my copy of the book (or loaned it to the wrong person), I could still find the wisdom.
I can't say that this is a book for everyone, and reading reviews written by peers on this site have confirmed this. BUT I can say this is an incredible read for incredibl ...more
I can't say that this is a book for everyone, and reading reviews written by peers on this site have confirmed this. BUT I can say this is an incredible read for incredibl ...more
This is probably one of my favorite books, and one that I have given to friends as gifts. What I like about the way its structured is that you can walk over to your table or bookcase and pull it out and read a little paragraph or short chapter and laugh at how stupid and profound Warhol can be all at once, and then just put it back where it was. I think he structured it like one of his movies Empire where people could walk in and out of the screening of 24 hours of the same thing and not miss ou
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I loved this book! He presents a number of ideas that I'm going to ponder for the next few days. In the mean time here are some of my favorite quotes:
-"I never fall apart because I never fall together" - pg.81
-"Buying is much more American than thinking and I'm as American as they come" - pg.229
-"People's fantasies are what give them problems. If you didn't have fantasies you wouldn't have problems because you'd just take whatever was there." pg.55 ...more
-"I never fall apart because I never fall together" - pg.81
-"Buying is much more American than thinking and I'm as American as they come" - pg.229
-"People's fantasies are what give them problems. If you didn't have fantasies you wouldn't have problems because you'd just take whatever was there." pg.55 ...more
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, then, presents the critical reader with a portrait of the artist as a shallow, egotistical, superficial, self-contradictory man.
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Silly and entertaining, but unfortunately my main takeaway is that Andy Warhol was a superficial ditz.
The problem I have with Andy Warhol is the same I have with David Lynch. I don't like all the movies of David Lynch, except the seductive Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive (in parts), but I love reading about them. I love to hear him talking about them, their genesis, and what they mean (or don't mean). In equal measures, the superficial, almost farcical, totally meaningless art of Andy Warhol is a mystery to me. I cannot understand why anyone would pay a huge amount (in millions) for a painting(
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Warhol has betrayed himself.
Like his Monroe, or Mao or Campbell Soup Can prints, Warhol's memoir strives to turn 'triviality' into an art-form - and he's succeeded. But unlike the aforementioned artworks, which focus on the endless cycle of production and reproduction - 'The Philosophy of Andy Warhol' is anything but repetitive. And though throughout Warhol goes to all ends to convince you of his nonchalance his work betrays him, because every single word, every single paragraph, and every sing ...more
Like his Monroe, or Mao or Campbell Soup Can prints, Warhol's memoir strives to turn 'triviality' into an art-form - and he's succeeded. But unlike the aforementioned artworks, which focus on the endless cycle of production and reproduction - 'The Philosophy of Andy Warhol' is anything but repetitive. And though throughout Warhol goes to all ends to convince you of his nonchalance his work betrays him, because every single word, every single paragraph, and every sing ...more
I find that I'm most often disappointed by books when I have expectations of them. Warhol is an artist first and foremost so maybe I should have expected that this 'autobiographical' work wouldn't follow the standard prose format. Instead I found myself reading a Warhol quote book, quotes that the author found himself enamored with enough to publish under the heading of 'philosophy'. Warhol was certainly a bright guy, so it goes without saying that some of the quotes are quite smart and ones tha
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people rag on me all the time for loving this book as i do. but it's bloody brilliant and Andy Warhol was a good writer and a smart cookie and he was funny as hell. i mean genuinely fun in an uncontrived uncanny way. two of my favorite bits off hand - Andy believes that everyone is entitled to the lighting they need. and he also said that if you could teach youself to love new york in the cold cold rain at about 4:30 in the morning then you could have the city to yourself.
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I am a huge fan of Andy Warhol, but unfortunately this book was not as great as I thought it would be. It WAS interesting to get a look into the eceentric mind of an incredible artist and read about his complete philosophy on life, but at certain points in the narrative his rambling made me want to get the book over with. A good read, but you have to be up for it.
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Andrew Warhola, better known as Andy Warhol, was an American artist and a central figure in the movement known as Pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, an avant-garde filmmaker, a record producer, an author, and a public figure known for his membership in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street
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