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As It Turns Out: Thinking About Edie and Andy Hardcover – August 16, 2022

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 168 ratings

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The story of the model, actress, and American icon Edie Sedgwick is told by her sister with empathy, insight, and firsthand observations of her meteoric life.

As It Turns Out is a family story. Alice Sedgwick Wohl is writing to her brother Bobby, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1965, just before their sister Edie Sedgwick met Andy Warhol. After unexpectedly coming across Edie’s image in a clip from Warhol’s extraordinary film Outer and Inner Space, Wohl was moved to put her inner dialogue with Bobby on the page in an attempt to reconstruct Edie’s life and figure out what made Edie and Andy such iconic figures in American culture. What was it about Andy that enabled him to anticipate so much of contemporary culture? Why did Edie draw attention wherever she went? Who exactly was she, who fascinated Warhol and captured the imagination of a generation?

Wohl tells the story as only a sister could, from their childhood on a California ranch and the beginnings of Edie’s lifelong troubles in the world of their parents to her life and relationship with Warhol within the silver walls of the Factory, in the fashionable arenas of New York, and as projected in the various critically acclaimed films he made with her. As Wohl seeks to understand the conjunction of Edie and Andy, she writes with a keen critical eye and careful reflection about their enduring impact.
As It Turns Out is a meditation addressed to her brother about their sister, about the girl behind the magnetic image, and about the culture she and Warhol introduced.

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From the Publisher

Praise for As It Turns Out: Thinking About Edie and Andy by Alice Sedgwick Wohl

As It Turns Out Alice Sedgwick Wohl Adam Rathe quote

As It Turns Out Alice Sedgwick Wohl Michael Findlay quote

As It Turns Out Alice Sedgwick Wohl Steven Watson quote

Editorial Reviews

Review

Named a Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 by The Washington Post

"
Beautiful . . . Wohl adds sensitive shading and texture to the group portrait of the Sedgwicks that emerged in Edie―and a spray of light." ―Alexandra Jacobs, The New York Times

"[
As It Turns Out] picks apart how Andy made Edie, how Edie made Andy, and the infinity mirror of their shared identity. A great pleasure of Sedgwick Wohl’s writing is that it is sisterly in the truest sense: irritated but protective, dabbed with globs of jealousy . . . Wohl, who has spent decades watching her sister on film, observes her as if looking through a high-powered telescope." ―Hillary Kelly, The New Yorker

“[Wohl] understands and
explains the cultural impact and implications of Edie and Andy in a way nobody ever has. [As It Turns Out] is a brilliant and profound work, and, by the end, an almost unbearably moving one.” ―Lili Anolik, Air Mail

"Wohl’s book is not a recollection or a mere revision but rather an attempt to understand the intense attention, even obsession, with Edie and Andy, and how their pairing anticipated the age of the influencer . . . Wohl’s description is
essential to her (and our) understanding of Edie―but also to understanding ourselves, as we enact this tension on social media every day." ―Jessica Ferri, The Los Angeles Times

Unflinching in its honesty, Wohl’s memoir provides a disquieting glimpse into one family in America’s privileged class, a family made worthy of examination because one of its members―whose presence lives on luminously in her films―remains a source of fascination more than 50 years after her death.'" ―Paul Alexander, The Washington Post

“Wohl . . . debuts with a perceptive account of her sibling’s life . . . Striking photos help tell the story, and Wohl’s exhaustive examination of her sister’s vulnerability and star appeal give this a unique position among the many books on the Warhol scene. The result is
a thoughtful exploration of a tumultuous life.” ―Publishers Weekly

"
The life and times of Edie Sedgwick have been written about extensively, but never before like this. In As It Turns Out, Segwick's sister, Alice Sedgwick Wohl, writes (in the form of a letter to her late brother) about growing up as part of a complicated, grand family, the sister whose free spirit captured millions of imaginations, and the way her truncated life shaped our culture in ways that are still apparent today." ―Adam Rathe, Town and Country

In this sensitive, deeply considered chronicle, Wohl offers a fresh and incisive look at Edie’s headline-grabbing adventures with Warhol, her superstar power, and their symbiotic relationship while also musing on Warhol’s prescient anticipation of our obsession with images.” ―Donna Seaman, Booklist

“Sharp descriptions of The Factory and Warhol’s art . . . and finally, some
profound insights about pop art, the expanding culture of narcissism and the nature of celebrity.” ―Mary Wisniewski, New City

“As It Turns Out . . . is
the best book I’ve read pinpointing the New York art scene at a precise pinnacle of change. Along the way, it broke my heart.” ―Patricia Volk, Avenue Magazine

"With
words as clear cut as crystal, Wohl deftly unpacks the damaging hollowness of the monied world in which she and Edie were raised and contrasts it with the sometimes joyful yet gritty Silver Factory which was a perfect métier for Edie’s stream of consciousness way of living. Without a hint of hagiography we meet both Edie and Andy Warhol as they were, not quite 'just kids' but much more tongue-in-cheek than any self-appointed cultural icon today could dare to be. An extremely accurate portrait of Andy's highly complex personality." ―Michael Findlay, author of Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern Art

"
Some stories just have to be told. As It Turns Out, Alice Sedgwick Wohl’s poignant account of her quest to understand the lost much-younger sister she never really knew―Pop Art icon Edie Sedgwick―pulses with the energy of revelation, the urgency of truth-telling. And there is more: a clear-eyed analysis of Andy Warhol in his heyday and of the enduring legacy of the image-making celebrity pair, Edie and Andy. Turns out Warhol’s not the mad-genius villain of this Mod morality tale. Read on and find out why." ―Megan Marshall, author of Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast

"As It Turns Out is a revelation. Alice Sedgwick Wohl reveals herself to be a remarkably talented writer who, with finely turned sentences and lyric passages, paints an unforgettable picture of the strange and singular childhood that produced both herself and her sister Edie Sedgwick . . . Wohl shrewdly analyses the unlikely but perfect partnership between Edie and Andy. Edie and Alice’s vast Santa Barbara ranch, in which appearances were everything, corresponded perfectly with Warhol’s vision of an art in which under the surface of everything there was only more surface." ―Alexander Stille, author of The Force of Things

"Although Edie Sedgwick is always toasted as the Youthquaker socialite of Manhattan, it was isolation on a ranch in California that formed her. Her oldest sister, Alice Wohl, magically evokes the natural wonder of her surroundings―as well as the challenges of growing up in a psychologically complicated family.
Commandingly told and original in form, As It Turns Out combines family memoir with an effort to understand the sister Alice barely knew. A broad audience will be riveted by her observations about the symbiotic connections between Edie and Andy and their enduring impact." ―Steven Watson, author of Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties

“Wohl . . . debuts with a perceptive account of her sibling’s life . . .
Striking photos help tell the story, and Wohl’s exhaustive examination of her sister’s vulnerability and star appeal give this a unique position among the many books on the Warhol scene. The result is a thoughtful exploration of a tumultuous life.” ―Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Alice Sedgwick Wohl is an independent scholar and translator. Her translations include The Life of Michelangelo by Ascanio Condivi, The Lives of the Modern Painters, Sculptors and Architects by Giovan Pietro Bellori, and On Antique Painting by Francisco de Hollanda.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 16, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0374604681
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374604684
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 168 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2022
Full disclosure as I am a relation. I had no idea this book was being written. A friend alerted me to it and I immediately ordered. I loved this book. It accurately describes and consistently tells what I had been told as a child. I suppose I am able to place myself in some of these locations and the descriptions and the relationships all the more compelling. This is a book that is not written for fans of Edie and Andy…it is the bonus though. Fans of Edie and Edie should feel fortunate to be able to have a glimpse of what is so deeply personal. It is a memoir of sorts written out of love and I am certain years of anguish in an attempt to understand huge unspeakable loss and at the same time beauty. Edie was deeply loved by those who knew her. The author is making an attempt though to understand what is was that caused others to love her…when they could not know her at all. Analysis of what Warhol was trying to do and was doing I thought particularly good and done with a set of tools that are completely unique to Alice. You have a sibling. You have a sibling with academic art knowledge base…and then another rather unexpected musical background. No one else on the planet could have written this book. I have art degree and spent considerable time familiarizing myself with Warhol not because of Edie but because this is part of the curriculum at any art school. I learned quite a bit here that I did not know and things that should have been obvious to me…of course are made immediately obvious here. So there is quite a bit of, of course! Going on…a brief musical analysis in the mix was a viewpoint I could never have considered. I found this really interesting. I don’t think anyone blames Andy Warhol for anything…I do think I have a far better understanding of his humanity than I did. The timing of this book could not be better. What was happening in that time politically/socially is happening right now. A huge shift was occurring and it is out lined in context in these pages…and this same shift and underlying causes remain completely relevant for just this moment. In any case, she has no idea I am writing a review and I do not want my grammar corrected! Lol. I just loved the book and beautiful descriptions…beautifully done.
24 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2022
Very interesting and a different perspective of Edie. I enjoyed it.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2022
I would like to thank Alice Sedgwick Wohl for writing As It Turns Out.
I pre-ordered this book not really knowing what to expect. Well As It Turns Out did not disappoint. Wohl’s writing style is hypnotic and meditative. The fact that her focus is Edie Sedgwick who I have been obsessed with since reading the Stein & Plympton book in 1982 makes As It Turns Out a joyous gift. Wohl interprets the mystery of Edie as only a sibling can do and even she remains somewhat mystified by her younger sister. Yet Wohl manages to bring new and fresh insight not only into the real Edie but Andy Warhol as well. But I don’t want to give too much away. If you are one who has been looking at pictures of Edie for years and wishing you could have personally experienced Edie, even for a moment, then As It Turns Out by her sister Alice Sedgwick Wohl is a book you will want to immediately read, an eye opening and truly insightful homage to America’s first
twentieth century Superstar.
19 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2022
A bit disappointing considering it’s written by Edie’s sister. It just seems to skim the surface instead of sharing things we didn’t already know. Many pages dedicated to Edie’s appearance on Merv Griffen and mention there was a buxom heavy comedienne also on the panel yet the author couldn’t take the time to look up or tell the reader it was Renee Taylor long before ‘The Nanny’? Still worth reading but I would wait for it to go on sale or go with digital.
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2023
Item came before the scheduled time and was in excellent condition
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2022
It seems the late Edie Sedgewick’s sister is trying to figure out how younger sibling’s star burned out and what went wrong so many years ago. Once the "it" girl and Andy Warhol’s muse, Edie had a knack for being in the spotlight just for being there. Was it her tumultuous childhood or the bright lights of the underground films?
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2022
I don't even know where to begin. I bought this book believing it may have some thoughtful insight on Edie Sedgwick and her time at the factory. But that part wasn't even well researched or talked about. First, it seems that Wohl's sources came from the gossip/ grotesque type books written by Jean Stein, George Plimpton and Victor Bockris.. or she just Googled information to get "facts" for her book... Also the only thing she does seem to say that apparently is true is that she hadn't seem her sister in years.. so she wrote this book in order to establish, what exactly? Being years older than Edie , she didn't grow up with her, so she never knew her.. Yes, she sees her images everywhere.. so I guess she thought she needed to write a disjointed and clumsy book about the sister she never knew.. The only thing I found slightly interesting was when Wohl recalled the Sedgwick family beginnings.. But she didn't write anything new about Edie and it was so apparent she is a person who dislikes Warhol and can not comprehend his contribution to the art world. Anyway... I requested a refund on this book. It is not something I want to have in my library
5 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2022
Edie Sedgwick's sister provides a personal and intimate view of one of the most intriguing stars of the mid 60's Edie was known as the Factory Girl and blazed a short but brilliant blast through the art scene in New York centered around Any Warhol. With insights only a family member could have Alice Sedgwick paints a picture of one of America's cultural icons. Worth reading.
2 people found this helpful
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