O'Keefe: The Life of an American Legend

My wife and I have read three great biographies of O'Keefe, but this is the only one that really gets inside the heads of Georgia, Alfred, and many of her friends. I believe fully in this book's credibility, and with it you will learn countless personal things about O'Keefe that are filtered out in the other biographies, all of which seem to have been written more to please her family. While she isn't always presented in a favorable light in this one, you will appreciate her even more as an astonishingly original individual by reading this version of her magnificent life.

It's incredible how much less fun a biography is to read when the author seems to hate his or her subject. Why would they choose to spend hours and hours of research on somebody if they don't think that the person is worth it? It must be some sort of competition. I found myself frequently thinking back to the Frida Kahlo bio written by Hayden Herrera. In that, the biographer's admiration for the artist was infectious, and was based on her body of work, which was illustrated throughout the book. But in this case, there are hardly any reproductions, because the writer concentrates on gossip and O'keeffe's shortcomings. However, the biography is very thorough and addictive in a guilty pleasure sort of way.