



Coco Chanel
An Intimate Life
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3.7 • 59 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The controversial story of Chanel, the twentieth century's foremost fashion icon.
Revolutionizing women's dress, Gabrielle "Coco'' Chanel was the twentieth century's most influential designer. Her extraordinary and unconventional journey-from abject poverty to a new kind of glamour- helped forge the idea of modern woman.
Unearthing an astonishing life, this remarkable biography shows how, more than any previous designer, Chanel became synonymous with a rebellious and progressive style. Her numerous liaisons, whose poignant and tragic details have eluded all previous biographers, were the very stuff of legend. Witty and mesmerizing, she became muse, patron, or mistress to the century's most celebrated artists, including Picasso, Dalí, and Stravinsky.
Drawing on newly discovered love letters and other records, Chaney's controversial book reveals the truth about Chanel's drug habit and lesbian affairs. And the question about Chanel's German lover during World War II (was he a spy for the Nazis?) is definitively answered.
While uniquely highlighting the designer's far-reaching influence on the modern arts, Chaney's fascinating biography paints a deeper and darker picture of Coco Chanel than any so far. Movingly, it explores the origins, the creative power, and the secret suffering of this exceptional and often misread woman.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chaney explores the glamorous life and fashion empire of one of the most influential women of the 20th century, investigating the humble origins of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, demonstrating how she changed the world around her, and scrutinizing her often controversial and provocative private life: rumored drug use, lesbian affairs, etc. Chaney offers up fascinating, new historical evidence some taken from recently discovered letters so the audio edition of her book should be compelling. Unfortunately, it is not. Carole Boyd's narration is precise and clear, but her pace is painfully slow and her intonation flat and this takes the fizz out of Chanel's bubbly life. And while Boyd lends Chanel a fine French accent, it's not enough to restore vitality to the audiobook. A Viking hardcover.
Customer Reviews
Coco Chanel would just yawn
Nothing more I could say about it, except that I feel bad to write such a review after all the work the writer must have done researching. Sorry, this is just too boring.
disappointed
A tediously written book about one of the 20th Century's most interesting persons.