Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close Up

This book is like a big box of candy--gossipy and chummy--compulsively readable and bittersweet. Colacello was a top Warhol insider--for a while--so he was in a good position to give us a first-hand account of what it was like. However he isnt an art critic or art historian, and he's not an artist. So don't expect a lot of analysis into Warhol's art. This book is more about what it was like to live and work with Andy Warhol. At least what it was like for Bob Colacello. For the most part Colcello seems to remember that and doesn't do a lot of sideline psychoanalysis...for the most part. He draws his conclusions, like the rest of us, and, like the rest of us, tells us probably more about himself than he does about Warhol. Other people are impossible to know. Probably the best we can do is report as directly as possible what we *see*--without commentary. What we see, all by itself, is commentary enough. Perhaps Warhol understood this better than any other major artist. It may very well be the key to his oeuvre--the films and paintings, the books and interviews that all seem to be about either nothing, or whatever one makes of them. It's a lesson that Colacello seems to have drawn from to write "Holy Terror," which is refreshingly free from a lot of the usual compromising motivations of first-person, I-was-there books of this sort: the judgment and self-aggrandizement of the author, and the demonizing of the (usually) dead and now voiceless and therefore defenseless subject. These sorts of books are usually written, to one degree or another, for revenge...and profit. Indeed, at the very end of this lengthy volume, Colacello acknowledges that his original purpose in writing *Holy Terror* was to "liberate" himself from Andy Warhol. Fortunately, this ulterior motive comes through only rarely, and mostly and most strongly in the concluding chapters, where Colacello tries to sum up Andy Warhol for us. Colacello has some axes to grind. He felt underappreciated by his boss, for whom he labored to the point of physical and psychological collapse, for thirteen years. He ghostwrote the books for which Warhol was given credit, made Warhol's "Interview" magazine a significant cultural signpost, and accompanied Warhol on what seems to have been a non-stop rollercoaster of all-night parties, openings, and get-togethers with the rich and famous. He served his boss as assistant, commissions pimp, social crutch, and, on many occasions, a shoulder to cry on. And all of this for relatively little financial reward--and even less recognition. On the other hand, Colacello does seem to remember--even if only in passing and primarily by implication--that without Warhol he and so many others who lived, worked, and complained about the artist would not be the chroniclers, critics, and footnotes to art history and American culture that they are. Warhol, who, according to Colacello, expressed himself primarily in a series of "gees, umms, oh reallys" comes out of thi

I didn't intend to reread this book, but I opened it while searching for an obscure New York address and didn't put it down again until I'd finished reading every page. When it first came out, I remember critics mostly tsk-tsking Colacello because they seemed to think he'd gotten to the place he was through Warhol and no doubt he did...What I failed to notice when the book was first published, was how Colacella and every single "Warhol" person who's written a book had a nervous breakdown as they were spinning (or trying to spin) out of his orbit. I want to read the book that tells WHY these intelligent creative people threw themselves so totally into Warhol's world...a world that couldn't have existed without them.....All I can say is, if your intent is to try and understand Warhol, then Bob Colacello's book is the absolute best take...besides yourself.

Beyond being an all-inclusive portrait of Andy, this book breaks down the public, trends and the superficiality of fame and fortune. I loved this book. It was as addictive as the National Inquirer and as informative as the Times.

This is an enlightening account of Andy Warhol. It's one thing to see the images an artist creates, but another to see how they create....and live. Bob Colacello gives an insider's account of the years he spent working for Warhol. Though much of the book is written through the author's personal experiences and observations, he seems to give a fair and generous account of the people, places and times involved. Along the way we learn about New York and Europe (and even Iran) in the 70's and 80's, popular culture and high society, politics, and the behind the scenes of the creative, wealthy, and famous...and those who fall in between(for Warhol, the more eccentric the better). Much of what we learn about Warhol is scathing, but ultimately humanizing.

I really loved this book because it was so in depth or whatever. it was really great. After i read it the first time i kept reading my favorite parts over and over again. it tells about bob colacello's experience with andy and his experience with the factory, partying, and other great stuff associated with andy in that time period. just so everyone knows: i love andy warhol!