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The Andy Warhol Diaries
Now in trade paperback, the sensational national bestseller that turns the spotlight on one of the most influential and controversial figures of our time. These pages are filled with previously undisclosed facts about the lives and loves of the irch and famous--from royalty to movie and music stars to renowned artists.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 200 reviews
July 16, 2009
When I was 17, I asked for this book for Christmas. My parents never "censored" or questioned anything I read, so there it was under the tree. I dived in. It was too overwhelming for a kid. I lost interest.
However, when I picked it up again years later, I thanked my 17 year old self for being ahead of her time!
He name drops like nobody's business and he KNEW everybody. It is fascinating.
This book is MASSIVE, but worth it!
However, when I picked it up again years later, I thanked my 17 year old self for being ahead of her time!
He name drops like nobody's business and he KNEW everybody. It is fascinating.
This book is MASSIVE, but worth it!
November 23, 2007
In my opinion there are two Andy's. The one before he got shot and the one that survived that shot. But did he? I think it affected him emotionally as well as the consistet pain that he lived with. But our Andy never grumbled, yet he kept record of his daily life of the 1980's and they're fascinating. His art at the time I think is not that interesting, but his life is another matter.
Via Andy we get a view of the jet-set as well as the Manhattan citizens of the nightclubs, reataurants, etc. Warhol kept a journal to record everything. The orgins of this journal was to keep track of expenses, but soon became a bird's eye view of Manahattan society via the 80's.
And through it all I think Warhol was pretty much a nice guy. But then...money has a way of being nice.
Via Andy we get a view of the jet-set as well as the Manhattan citizens of the nightclubs, reataurants, etc. Warhol kept a journal to record everything. The orgins of this journal was to keep track of expenses, but soon became a bird's eye view of Manahattan society via the 80's.
And through it all I think Warhol was pretty much a nice guy. But then...money has a way of being nice.
June 10, 2014
I was warned off this mammoth book by a previous reader who said it's all just about 'how much taxi fares and magazines cost'. However, I think that fellow reader missed the point. It is an insightful, funny and painful journey of a man, an artist who regardless of his nerve and creativity struggles with himself and those around him including those (from Warhol's diaries) making a career out of being 'close' to Andy. The words reveal a sensitive and complex human being who, like the rest of us lives in a world where our collective conscious hypocrisy and contradiction shatters any idea of this thing they call truth. Andy was well aware of the parasites around him but he was also afraid of those close to him, unsure, hesitating and his assertive actions are weakened by intermittent outbursts of screaming. He finds his own work praised and crushed in the same day, locates fakes of paintings but on many occasions he doesn't have the heart or the desire to inform the poor buyer who thinks they've got a bargain. The diaries reveal to me a world I would never want to be part of where image, instant gratification and the numbing parties, openings and dinners leaving a stinking long streak of slippery shit of an existence. A wonderful read and a worthwhile experience, however you must be in for the long haul (over 1100 pages) and maintain contact with Andy throughout.
March 21, 2012
Absolute tripe: an empty intestine. If you want to follow the dead adventures of the most infamous famous, here it is in all its stunning flatness. Every 15 minutes reading is more dull than the last. Typical entry: " Met Mick and Liz at ten." I made that up, but it's how the whole thing reads.
November 11, 2012
This was so great. I loved this. It took me 6 weeks to read because I only felt like reading it 10-15 pages at a time, but it was so fun to read, for lots of reasons. One is that it starts in 1976 and goes right up to Andy's unexpected and sudden death in 1987, and of course those were probably the funnest 12 years of my life, so it's such a fun trip down memory lane ... just the various news events he mentions in passing in his entries, and the songs and bands and celebrities. And Manhattan was really different in 1976 than it is now, and it changed a lot from 1976 to 1987, and you can really feel that here, and remember how it used to be. And Andy's studio (and the offices of his magazine, Interview) were at 860 B'way, just right around the corner from my high school (16th St. bet. 5th and 6th), so the diary starts right off right in my old stomping grounds and while I was still stomping there. Also, the entries are really funny. There's almost no entry where you don't laugh at least once. He's funniest when describing his closest companions, like Bridget Berlin, Bianca Jagger, Halston, Steve Rubell, and a bunch of other people that he ran around with, a lot of whom worked for him in some way or another.
May 18, 2014
I have spent 16 months in the company of Andy Warhol and the company of "friends", employees and acquaintances. This book has sat in my loo and I've read a few entries most days. It has felt a bit like Groundhog Day as the same things happen over and over again. If you tried to read it in bigger chunks, I imagine you might be bored out of your mind.
This isn't really a diary. It was all phoned through to Pat Hackett (the editor) the morning after the day before. It was started as a way to keep a record of warhol's expenses after being investigated by the IRS, so every taxi ride, phone call, dinner is listed, down to the last cent. Of course, this gives the impression that Warhol was obsessed with money, which is perhaps unfair, but then he spends much of his time trying to get rich people to buy portraits and complaining when the works of other artists sell for more than him at auction.
For the first few hundred pages, I was reminded of Gore Vidal's waspish remark that Warhol was the only genius he had met with an IQ of 60. There is very little reflection or analysis, no thinking. But it isn't a diary, it is a record of a series of conversations, 'I did this this, then that, met x and then y'. Most of the x's and the y's were unknown to me and as there is no glossary, they remain just names.
I was left with the impression that Warhol was a voyeur, an observer. For the first half or so of the book, he takes a microphone and camera to all the parties, maintaining a distance from everybody. He complains when others do not entertain him, 'they're boring', but then says that he doesn't make conversation himself. They are there to entertain him, he doesn't have to entertain them. And he isn't really interested in other people, except as a source of salacious gossip. They don't touch him. The book covers the onset of Aids and many of his circle die, but it isn't until page 900 that he ever notes that one of the many deaths is 'sad'. Given that this is the record of a phone call, it would seem natural to say that events are sad or moving, but not to Warhol. He paints (gets money from) the Shah's family and from the Marcos's, but when their regimes topple, he has nothing to say.
Warhol censors what he says, so we never get close to his feelings or personal relationships. So Jon appears on the scene and asks not to be included in the diary, but we get occasional glimpses of Warhol's unrequited love but there is no clue as to when the relationship ends. When Jon dies, presumably from Aids, Pat Hackett has to tell us, as Andy won't mention it. Warhol doesn't do feelings. Other names appear but as there is no glossary, it isn't clear if they are boyfriends or employees or hangers-on.
It has been an interesting year or more, getting glimpses into a world which seems so glamourous and exciting but which is also so shallow and insincere. I won't be returning, the book has gone to Oxfam.
This isn't really a diary. It was all phoned through to Pat Hackett (the editor) the morning after the day before. It was started as a way to keep a record of warhol's expenses after being investigated by the IRS, so every taxi ride, phone call, dinner is listed, down to the last cent. Of course, this gives the impression that Warhol was obsessed with money, which is perhaps unfair, but then he spends much of his time trying to get rich people to buy portraits and complaining when the works of other artists sell for more than him at auction.
For the first few hundred pages, I was reminded of Gore Vidal's waspish remark that Warhol was the only genius he had met with an IQ of 60. There is very little reflection or analysis, no thinking. But it isn't a diary, it is a record of a series of conversations, 'I did this this, then that, met x and then y'. Most of the x's and the y's were unknown to me and as there is no glossary, they remain just names.
I was left with the impression that Warhol was a voyeur, an observer. For the first half or so of the book, he takes a microphone and camera to all the parties, maintaining a distance from everybody. He complains when others do not entertain him, 'they're boring', but then says that he doesn't make conversation himself. They are there to entertain him, he doesn't have to entertain them. And he isn't really interested in other people, except as a source of salacious gossip. They don't touch him. The book covers the onset of Aids and many of his circle die, but it isn't until page 900 that he ever notes that one of the many deaths is 'sad'. Given that this is the record of a phone call, it would seem natural to say that events are sad or moving, but not to Warhol. He paints (gets money from) the Shah's family and from the Marcos's, but when their regimes topple, he has nothing to say.
Warhol censors what he says, so we never get close to his feelings or personal relationships. So Jon appears on the scene and asks not to be included in the diary, but we get occasional glimpses of Warhol's unrequited love but there is no clue as to when the relationship ends. When Jon dies, presumably from Aids, Pat Hackett has to tell us, as Andy won't mention it. Warhol doesn't do feelings. Other names appear but as there is no glossary, it isn't clear if they are boyfriends or employees or hangers-on.
It has been an interesting year or more, getting glimpses into a world which seems so glamourous and exciting but which is also so shallow and insincere. I won't be returning, the book has gone to Oxfam.
February 9, 2017
I came to this book since I was into Velvet Underground, (some) Warhol movies, artists out of The Factory, etc. However I was confronted with one of my own pet peeves; people that were born in the early 50s and talk about the decade like they were a teenager or adult like people born in the late 30s talking about WWII like they were vets. There ought to be a word for that. I was born in '70 and this diary is '76-'86 and seems like recollections from my adult life: affluent Iranian jet setters, SSTs, Jerry Hall, etc. Little things jump out in these largely banal reports of going to parties, etc. He often has to "glue" because he was bald, but there is no need or desire to explain, he dealt with that like the "surgical corsets" he must wear after being shot by radical feminist writer Valerie Solanas. Possibly these trite things stand out to me since Warhol comes across as so ... uncomfortable, but comfortably so... Does that make since. Like an observer from an alien world who knows that he doesn't fit in.
August 31, 2014
" The whole situation was funny because Catherine and I didn't know anything about Michael Jackson, really, and he didn't know anything about me—he thought I was a poet or something like that. So he was asking questions that nobody who knew me would ask—like if I was married, if I had any kids, if my mother was alive…(laughs) I told him, “She’s in a home."
" I haven’t peed on any canvases this week. This is for the Piss paintings. I told Ronnie not to pee when he gets up in the morning—to try to hold it until he gets to the office, because he takes lots of vitamin B so the canvas turns a really pretty color when it’s his piss."
" Bianca was wearing the same dress she wore the last time—it’s strange to see girls who really dress up wearing the same thing twice."
" The thing is, I guess, in that long amount of time, everybody’s real personality just comes out and it’s too revealing of how boring they are."
" Brooke Hayward was there and threw her arms around me and said, “I’m so successful, I don’t know what to do.” I think she’s nutty."
" Diana said that you don’t go change something because somebody asks you to, that that’s the trouble with this country, they want to “give the public what it wants.” “Well,” she said, “the public wants what it can’t get, and it’s up to museums to teach them what to want.” And she said that’s the trouble with Vogue magazine and all the other magazines today—except for Interview, she said."
" I haven’t peed on any canvases this week. This is for the Piss paintings. I told Ronnie not to pee when he gets up in the morning—to try to hold it until he gets to the office, because he takes lots of vitamin B so the canvas turns a really pretty color when it’s his piss."
" Bianca was wearing the same dress she wore the last time—it’s strange to see girls who really dress up wearing the same thing twice."
" The thing is, I guess, in that long amount of time, everybody’s real personality just comes out and it’s too revealing of how boring they are."
" Brooke Hayward was there and threw her arms around me and said, “I’m so successful, I don’t know what to do.” I think she’s nutty."
" Diana said that you don’t go change something because somebody asks you to, that that’s the trouble with this country, they want to “give the public what it wants.” “Well,” she said, “the public wants what it can’t get, and it’s up to museums to teach them what to want.” And she said that’s the trouble with Vogue magazine and all the other magazines today—except for Interview, she said."
January 12, 2016
when i was younger i used to look up to a lot of people in this book. but after reading this 807 page book. its so clear that the crowd andy warhol hung out were not particulary nice people.
its a big read at 807 pages, and if you can past the tedious little day to day things warhol did. this can be an interesting read. warhol came into contact with a lot of big name people from calvin klein to halston, from mick jagger to boy george.from truman capote to tennessee williams. one of the highlights of the book is warhol regulary helped at soup kitchens. for anybody interested in the new york scene of the 70's and 80's i recommend this book.
its a big read at 807 pages, and if you can past the tedious little day to day things warhol did. this can be an interesting read. warhol came into contact with a lot of big name people from calvin klein to halston, from mick jagger to boy george.from truman capote to tennessee williams. one of the highlights of the book is warhol regulary helped at soup kitchens. for anybody interested in the new york scene of the 70's and 80's i recommend this book.
September 5, 2022
well i FINALLY finished it. and i have some thoughts. overall, i did really enjoy reading it and fully got immersed into Andy's life. however, he does have some very problematic views and opinions. some of it did make me laugh though. i just think it should be split into volumes because it is just SO long. glad i read it !
November 1, 2021
"Andy Warhol is the only genius with an IQ of 60."---Gore Vidal . These diaries, published posthumously, help explain why. Warhol had an obsession with the mundane that it lifted the ordinary into art, as in recording the price of every food item he purchased. In a world of banality, he taught us, the only way to stand out is to be uberbanal. Power, money, lust---all these have their attraction but only fame matters. As the diaries show, Andy never really thought; instead, he imbibed impressions and suggestions, deciding which could best elevate his fame. For you gossip mongers there's plenty here on the sex lives of everyone from Mick Jagger to Nureyev.
May 15, 2013
Not only do I still have it, inside the front cover I still have the torn-out pages from the issue of Spy magazine that painstakingly indexed it. Listen, if you think you're nostalgic for the '80s, you better walk the walk and read (or re-read) this excruciating and fascinating account of everyday life in Andy's world. A complete waste of time, and PERFECT.
April 4, 2008
disturbingly, I've read this 800+ page tome in its entirity more than 10 times. Sean, this explains why I never got around to so many other books. Addictive and comforting, more a art piece on minutia and tedium and celebrity and mental illness and lonliness than a memoir.
June 20, 2022
Pride Book Review: Dear Diary Edition. I was obsessed with this book! I know all of my friends were ready for my 15 minutes of fame with Andy to be over because I could not stop talking about and or texting quotes from this book to them. It took me about three months to read this (of course I read about 8 other books along the way too) because the manner in which it is written it is not something that you can sit down and read like a fictional book, but somewhere around pages 350 I was so fully committed that I was reading this book almost exclusively and in huge chunks at a time.
Long time readers of Arts Journal! know that I am obsessed with NYC in the 70’s and 80’s so Andy’s first hand account of his life in this setting is pretty much like catnip to me. In the 70’s you have lots of stories about everyone you'd expect- Liza, Halston, Steve Rubel, Ian Schrager, DeNiro, Scorsese, Capote, Bianca, and Blondie. The 80’s continues with many of those and adds to the mix Boy George, Madonna, and Grace Jones to name just a few. The Studio 54 stories and time period are my favorite parts of the book. Like this amazing quote on page 109, “So we weren’t supposed to see this. And Liza and Baryshnikov were taking so much cocaine, I didn’t know they took so much, just shoveling it in, and it was so exciting to see two really famous people right there in front of you taking drugs, about to go make it with each other.” This had me howling along with the mental image I had created in my mind.
Andy’s first-hand accounts of celebrity and royalty are of course the bread and butter of this book. His visit to Miss Lana Turner’s book signing is probably my favorite of all his tales, but I don’t want to spoil it by trying to re-tell it here, after all it’s Andy’s word choice and tone that make it classic. Being a Broadway fan, I also adore his accounts of going to every Broadway show that opened during the 10 years of his diary- including his review of his front seat for Cats that is so obscene that I wouldn’t dare repeat it here. Also priceless is his analysis of the movie, “The Outsiders,” in which he is shocked at how overtly gay the film is- a declaration I made years ago after watching it again with my film class.
Another thing I love about Andy is he is totally boy crazy. Sure, you’d expect this commentary when he’s discussing the bartenders at Studio 54 or Matt Dillion coming back the office to be photographed for his Interview cover, but Andy has to mention if a cab driver is hot or even just boys in the crowds at one of his gallery shows and these references never fail to crack me up. There are very few entries where he didn’t go somewhere and find an object of beauty. If he doesn't, he will make it known that the city or club he is in is filled with unattractive people.
One added bonus to his Diary, aside from all the celebrity world he lets you become a part of, he also is such a talented storyteller that he makes his office staff at Interview very much a part of the plot too. His Republican office manager Bob, who Andy has great fun with at Bob’s expense (“Bob says he’s quit drinking, I guess he thinks we can’t smell it on his breath and clothes..”) There is a gay couple working on staff that try to have an open relationship, much to Andy’s chagrin (“Well this latest boy Chris has picked up he’s brought back from Texas, and I guess they’re going to try to get him into modeling or something…”) But my favorite work character is Bridget who is seemingly Andy’s arch nemesis. His entry the day Bridget’s father died (“Everyone thought I should send her home for the day, but I thought if she kept on working, it might make it less, you know, traumatic for her…”)
This Diary is not for everyone of course, a quick glance at Goodreads reviews shows lots of 1 and 2 star reviews, and the word “tripe,” but it was an absolute delight for me. I came for the NYC late 70’s and early 80’s setting, I was fascinated with the insightful look at celebrity culture, and I laughed out loud at Andy’s sardonic tone and highlights of the absurdity. I wish there was another decade worth of entries.
Long time readers of Arts Journal! know that I am obsessed with NYC in the 70’s and 80’s so Andy’s first hand account of his life in this setting is pretty much like catnip to me. In the 70’s you have lots of stories about everyone you'd expect- Liza, Halston, Steve Rubel, Ian Schrager, DeNiro, Scorsese, Capote, Bianca, and Blondie. The 80’s continues with many of those and adds to the mix Boy George, Madonna, and Grace Jones to name just a few. The Studio 54 stories and time period are my favorite parts of the book. Like this amazing quote on page 109, “So we weren’t supposed to see this. And Liza and Baryshnikov were taking so much cocaine, I didn’t know they took so much, just shoveling it in, and it was so exciting to see two really famous people right there in front of you taking drugs, about to go make it with each other.” This had me howling along with the mental image I had created in my mind.
Andy’s first-hand accounts of celebrity and royalty are of course the bread and butter of this book. His visit to Miss Lana Turner’s book signing is probably my favorite of all his tales, but I don’t want to spoil it by trying to re-tell it here, after all it’s Andy’s word choice and tone that make it classic. Being a Broadway fan, I also adore his accounts of going to every Broadway show that opened during the 10 years of his diary- including his review of his front seat for Cats that is so obscene that I wouldn’t dare repeat it here. Also priceless is his analysis of the movie, “The Outsiders,” in which he is shocked at how overtly gay the film is- a declaration I made years ago after watching it again with my film class.
Another thing I love about Andy is he is totally boy crazy. Sure, you’d expect this commentary when he’s discussing the bartenders at Studio 54 or Matt Dillion coming back the office to be photographed for his Interview cover, but Andy has to mention if a cab driver is hot or even just boys in the crowds at one of his gallery shows and these references never fail to crack me up. There are very few entries where he didn’t go somewhere and find an object of beauty. If he doesn't, he will make it known that the city or club he is in is filled with unattractive people.
One added bonus to his Diary, aside from all the celebrity world he lets you become a part of, he also is such a talented storyteller that he makes his office staff at Interview very much a part of the plot too. His Republican office manager Bob, who Andy has great fun with at Bob’s expense (“Bob says he’s quit drinking, I guess he thinks we can’t smell it on his breath and clothes..”) There is a gay couple working on staff that try to have an open relationship, much to Andy’s chagrin (“Well this latest boy Chris has picked up he’s brought back from Texas, and I guess they’re going to try to get him into modeling or something…”) But my favorite work character is Bridget who is seemingly Andy’s arch nemesis. His entry the day Bridget’s father died (“Everyone thought I should send her home for the day, but I thought if she kept on working, it might make it less, you know, traumatic for her…”)
This Diary is not for everyone of course, a quick glance at Goodreads reviews shows lots of 1 and 2 star reviews, and the word “tripe,” but it was an absolute delight for me. I came for the NYC late 70’s and early 80’s setting, I was fascinated with the insightful look at celebrity culture, and I laughed out loud at Andy’s sardonic tone and highlights of the absurdity. I wish there was another decade worth of entries.
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January 26, 2025A fairly quick flick through of this 800 page tome.
I'm interested in Andy Warhol because he was involved in so many things over an interesting era in New York's art history and like him as a conceptual artist.
Diary is interesting mainly for what he thought of certain celebrities who came in and out of his life during the years of 1976 to 87 (would have been much more interesting if the diary had covered the early Factory years of the mid-60s). Also interesting to see what he was getting up to day to day.. the late 70s is lots of drinking during the Studio 54 days and then he has a cleanup through the 80s and is complaining less about hangovers.
The diary is scant on self-reflection (though he does mention times when he is feelign particularly Up or Down) and I kinda expected Warhol would remain Sphinx like in his diary.
Some surprises
- He Goes to Catholic Church service consistently (but he never reflects on the nature of his Faith)
- Maggie Trudeau (surprisingly) is pretty prominent as a friend in the late 70s Studio 54 years
- Many mentions of Bianca Jagger, first as a high sexed socialite then as Sandinista-adjacent activist, a turn which Andy doesn't approve of much.
- He mentions a few different hockey players he interviews or takes photos of them and even tries to set them up with his friends, (says Wayne Gretzky is cute), I explain this as his Czech heritage shining through
- he didn't like Frank Zappa, mentions some strange egotistically rants where he takes credit for his daughter's success.
- He can't understand why Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground avoids him
- Patti Smyth has bad BO
- Also was very surprised by Andy's relationship with Basquiat, they do sound like actual friends and colleagues. I had heard before they were friends but didn't imagine they were as close as they seem to be in the diary. In fact, I think Basquiat is mentioned more than any other single person in the diary, especially during a certain period in the 80s (82-86)
Many passages of the diary are about the fear around the 'Gay Cancer' (as Andy first calls it) i.e. AIDS. He loses a lot of friends including two editors of his magazine to the disease. His fear of catching it pops up consistently, he's throws out his sandwich when a Gay guy makes it and he wories that he has caught the disease when Calvin Klein gives him a big hug and kiss (rumors are going around at the time that the designer had AIDS).
Also in 1984 he complains when Pay phones go from charging 10 cents a call to 25 cents. I liked this cause I remember when they went from 25 cents to 50 cents in 2007 (might have been the last person using a pay phone at that time).
I'm interested in Andy Warhol because he was involved in so many things over an interesting era in New York's art history and like him as a conceptual artist.
Diary is interesting mainly for what he thought of certain celebrities who came in and out of his life during the years of 1976 to 87 (would have been much more interesting if the diary had covered the early Factory years of the mid-60s). Also interesting to see what he was getting up to day to day.. the late 70s is lots of drinking during the Studio 54 days and then he has a cleanup through the 80s and is complaining less about hangovers.
The diary is scant on self-reflection (though he does mention times when he is feelign particularly Up or Down) and I kinda expected Warhol would remain Sphinx like in his diary.
Some surprises
- He Goes to Catholic Church service consistently (but he never reflects on the nature of his Faith)
- Maggie Trudeau (surprisingly) is pretty prominent as a friend in the late 70s Studio 54 years
- Many mentions of Bianca Jagger, first as a high sexed socialite then as Sandinista-adjacent activist, a turn which Andy doesn't approve of much.
- He mentions a few different hockey players he interviews or takes photos of them and even tries to set them up with his friends, (says Wayne Gretzky is cute), I explain this as his Czech heritage shining through
- he didn't like Frank Zappa, mentions some strange egotistically rants where he takes credit for his daughter's success.
- He can't understand why Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground avoids him
- Patti Smyth has bad BO
- Also was very surprised by Andy's relationship with Basquiat, they do sound like actual friends and colleagues. I had heard before they were friends but didn't imagine they were as close as they seem to be in the diary. In fact, I think Basquiat is mentioned more than any other single person in the diary, especially during a certain period in the 80s (82-86)
Many passages of the diary are about the fear around the 'Gay Cancer' (as Andy first calls it) i.e. AIDS. He loses a lot of friends including two editors of his magazine to the disease. His fear of catching it pops up consistently, he's throws out his sandwich when a Gay guy makes it and he wories that he has caught the disease when Calvin Klein gives him a big hug and kiss (rumors are going around at the time that the designer had AIDS).
Also in 1984 he complains when Pay phones go from charging 10 cents a call to 25 cents. I liked this cause I remember when they went from 25 cents to 50 cents in 2007 (might have been the last person using a pay phone at that time).
April 11, 2022
I've been a casual Andy Warhol fan for years and just never got around to reading this until I watched the Netflix documentary based on The Andy Warhol Diaries. I thought the documentary was deeply moving, vulnerable, haunting, and revealing, but the book itself, not so much. The thing is, 1) this wasn't meant to be published, so it feels very voyeuristic to read this in its entirety when it was never intended to, and makes you wonder if Andy Warhol would have approved of its publication and 2) while it has its amusing moments, especially when it highlights specific celebrities and iconic places in NYC in the 70's - 80's, A LOT of it was just Andy talking about how much such and such cost and just mundane things in the day in the life of Mr. Warhol. And honestly, that would be fine if this book were short and sweet, but it's over 800 pages long, and it's a really big and heavy book, so not exactly travel friendly and hardly even lap book friendly! It's more or less more of a coffee book in size. I can understand why the diaries weren't edited, as I suppose that adds even more to this book, knowing that this is every single entry ever written down. But even for a Warhol fan, this is a lot. You have to read it in small doses, and even then, it's so repetitive that so much of it you have to skim. If anything, this book makes me appreciate the Netflix documentary even more, in how they cherry picked and pulled from the most insightful and juiciest parts that's actually worth knowing and reading about, while glossing over the rest that's just uninteresting dictations. The Andy Warhol Diaries is worth checking out if you're curious, but don't pressure yourself to read EVERY SINGLE PAGE because you aren't missing out on too much. It's still an important book, though, as a time capsule of a NYC that's long gone, and to reveal some insight into Warhol's life and sometimes hilariously catty personality.
December 22, 2012
La narrativa es muy básica porque son conversaciones telefónicas con Pat Hackett, quien hizo un muy buen trabajo en reducir un manuscrito de 10 mil páginas a poco más de mil con todo y contexto. Lo califico como irresistible porque está llena de jugosos chismes y la crueldad innata de Warhol, quien se revela tal y como es (porque aquí realmente entra el lector a un espacio tan íntimo que no sobrevivió al mito).
No le puse 5 estrellas porque el ritmo llega a ser algo pesado en ocasiones y tienes que hacer varias incursiones a Wikipedia para saber el origen y destino de personajes como Ahmet Ertegun, quien aparece varis veces en sus páginas. Y como un spoiler que no afecta nada, él detestaba a Jackie Onassis a pesar de haberla pintado y admirarla.
Es ingenioso y ligero pero la verdadera naturaleza de Warhol me da miedo porque (salvo su madre y quizá Pat Hackett), las personas en su círculo social eran desechables: Bianca Jagger, Halston y otros tantos que cayeron en desgracia durante los tiempos de estos diarios. Sinceramente, no habría querido ser su amigo. Y supongo que lo que dicen sobre la alta sociedad neoyorquina es cierto. (Plegarias Atendidas, anyone?)
Recomiendo leerlo en inglés, no creo que la traducción al castellano sea buena (y pierde juegos de palabras). Y creo que estoy listo para un libro más complejo.
No le puse 5 estrellas porque el ritmo llega a ser algo pesado en ocasiones y tienes que hacer varias incursiones a Wikipedia para saber el origen y destino de personajes como Ahmet Ertegun, quien aparece varis veces en sus páginas. Y como un spoiler que no afecta nada, él detestaba a Jackie Onassis a pesar de haberla pintado y admirarla.
Es ingenioso y ligero pero la verdadera naturaleza de Warhol me da miedo porque (salvo su madre y quizá Pat Hackett), las personas en su círculo social eran desechables: Bianca Jagger, Halston y otros tantos que cayeron en desgracia durante los tiempos de estos diarios. Sinceramente, no habría querido ser su amigo. Y supongo que lo que dicen sobre la alta sociedad neoyorquina es cierto. (Plegarias Atendidas, anyone?)
Recomiendo leerlo en inglés, no creo que la traducción al castellano sea buena (y pierde juegos de palabras). Y creo que estoy listo para un libro más complejo.
October 5, 2017
This book like eating popcorn - addictive with all the buttery salty tidbits. But in fact it is full of priceless insights into the practical working methods of how Andy Warhol worked as a artist - and he was a total workaholic. It deals with pricing art, selling art and ignoring critics... all essential life skills if you're making a living in the arts. As a book illustrator I lived in NYC around the time of part of this book I could especially relate to life in the city - though I missed most of the nightlife and expensive restaurants. I think it's telling how none of the other 'great artists' of that age, who dissed Warhol for being too gay and too commercial seemed to be able to write any books - Jasper Johns - Robert Rauschenberg. Andy Warhol seemed to generate dozens of brilliant original thoughts every day. The one aspect of Andy Warhol and his letters might be boiled down to original ideas from an imagination unhindered by too much schooling.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2017
Um...gee...what a greaaat idea. I should, like, steal it and use it in my work.
OK, enough trying to sound like the subject of the book in a review. That doesn't ever really work, does it.
I really enjoyed seeing Andy's (edited) life close up and day to day. This is my third time reading the diaries, and the more I learn about NYC/jet set history of the 70's and 80's, the more satisfying it becomes. I can finally know who he is talking about (that Google now exists also makes the diaries even more interesting). It's also fun tracing all the people in his life and how his feelings about them change over time. I just wish I had kept the index that Spy published when these first came out.
OK, enough trying to sound like the subject of the book in a review. That doesn't ever really work, does it.
I really enjoyed seeing Andy's (edited) life close up and day to day. This is my third time reading the diaries, and the more I learn about NYC/jet set history of the 70's and 80's, the more satisfying it becomes. I can finally know who he is talking about (that Google now exists also makes the diaries even more interesting). It's also fun tracing all the people in his life and how his feelings about them change over time. I just wish I had kept the index that Spy published when these first came out.
June 12, 2008
so i'm watching this charlie rose panel discussion with the editors/creative directors of interview magazine along with marc jacobs in commemoration of andy's 80th birthday. unfortunately, everyone's too busy saying how ahead of his time andy was and what an exemplification of 'cool' andy's retrospective work represents, especially the magazine he started. and yet, i can't shake wryly genuine feeling that if andy were here, he couldn't help just saying, "oh, you're all so good-looking (especially you, marc) and you're analysis SOUNDS so intelligent." again, the surface sees through the depths.
September 15, 2011
One of my all time favorite books.
November 11, 2014
Heartbreaking, Priceless, Interesting & Enjoyable!
August 7, 2015
I'm going through an Andy Warhol Phase. Absolutely loved his diaries! They are snarky AND full of heartfelt wisdom. He was a genius.
July 18, 2025
This is certainly one of the most unusual books I've ever read. (And at 819 pages, one of the longest!) Andy Warhol was a study in contradictions. He was visionary and quirky; he was petty and stingy. He was a church-going Catholic; he was uber judgmental about pretty much everyone...especially feminine gays, overweight women, people he considered users...and the list goes on. He kept meticulous records on what he spent on mundane things like newspapers, magazines, and cabs. He begrudged other people their successes but was a soft touch when he received praise or a compliment. He held grudges when he was snubbed or overlooked. The most important strength of this lengthy book is that it is a time capsule for life in the late 70s and early to mid 80s. He rubbed elbows with EVERYONE. He had amazing powers of observation and a brutal manner of description. Warhol was gay but shied away from sex (he was terrified of the "gay cancer" later called AIDS.) His observations, paranoia, and superstitions about the disease are both shocking and typical of the time. As the list of fatalities grows (Roy Cohn, Rock Hudson, Liberace...), his reactions become more paralyzing. In a supreme irony, this hypochondriac died from complications following the removal of his gallbladder (which had bothered him for years.)
The writing is pedestrian, but honest. At times, he is candid and forthright. At other times, he is guarded and elusive even with his own diary. But this book is more than a diary. It's like one large photo album where things and people are captured like a fly in amber. For aficionados of pop culture, this book is a must read.
The writing is pedestrian, but honest. At times, he is candid and forthright. At other times, he is guarded and elusive even with his own diary. But this book is more than a diary. It's like one large photo album where things and people are captured like a fly in amber. For aficionados of pop culture, this book is a must read.
September 27, 2022
Can’t recommend this book highly enough. Andy’s diary contains the most trivial information of his life but he makes it entertaining and so funny. Love it. There’s a very serious documentary based on his diaries on Netflix which is excellent but it doesn’t replace actually reading them. Important book.
January 28, 2024
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that even someone as famous as Andy Warhol cared about what others thought of him. It made me feel less lonely, realising that Andy Warhol is more like me when it came to overthinking 🙈
September 7, 2022
Lots of pages of nothing, but then you’ll get something jaw-dropping. My favorite entry involved Sean Lennon and Steve Jobs.
Read
January 4, 2024stayed up to finish, no rating because i think its hard to rate a primary source like this
i would say that i read about half of this genuinely and then skimmed the rest
never meet your heroes (not derogatory, just dissapointing)
i would say that i read about half of this genuinely and then skimmed the rest
never meet your heroes (not derogatory, just dissapointing)
February 16, 2025
Finally.
June 1, 2023
I feel I was with Andy all this years, while reading the diaries. Such a great interesting artist, original, sincere and simply great in everything he did. I’m going to miss this reading.
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