henrismum's review
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Non-fiction
Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
Why I added this book to my TBR pile: Years ago, I added a book about Coco Chanel to my TBR list on Goodreads, but when it came time to put in the cycle, I realized it was historic fiction, not a biography. I found this one instead. I'm not into fashion, but I love to read about people's experiences.
Will I read more by this author / about this subject? Probably Not Maybe Definitely
Coco Chanel was not a nice person. She sympathized and assisted the Nazi's in WWII. She hated fat people and wanted to control those around her. A sad life in total, with some love.
The author made some faux pas in her writing like saying, She did enjoy the show. vs. She enjoyed the show. Also: She, herself did it. vs. She did it. I am far from perfect in my writing, but why didn't an editor get rid of the errors?
The narrator was Tavia Gilbert. No complaints.
Source: LA Library
Audiobook (All of my entries on The Story Graph are audiobooks.)
Why I added this book to my TBR pile: Years ago, I added a book about Coco Chanel to my TBR list on Goodreads, but when it came time to put in the cycle, I realized it was historic fiction, not a biography. I found this one instead. I'm not into fashion, but I love to read about people's experiences.
Will I read more by this author / about this subject? Probably Not Maybe Definitely
Coco Chanel was not a nice person. She sympathized and assisted the Nazi's in WWII. She hated fat people and wanted to control those around her. A sad life in total, with some love.
The author made some faux pas in her writing like saying, She did enjoy the show. vs. She enjoyed the show. Also: She, herself did it. vs. She did it. I am far from perfect in my writing, but why didn't an editor get rid of the errors?
The narrator was Tavia Gilbert. No complaints.
Source: LA Library
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Abortion, and Suicide
hayhay321's review against another edition
3.0
This was an extremely interesting, if overly dense book. The amount of information Garelick compiled is just staggering, which makes it difficult at times to keep details straight. I did think the author took some liberties and made some sweeping assumptions based on a very small pile of evidence regarding some areas of Coco's life. But she did provide sufficient corroborating details in many of her stories, and I think it makes sense, after having gone to such great lengths in her research, to try and find connections in order to make sense of Chanel's motivations. By the end, the overall sense I got of Chanel's life is that it was really, quite sad. She was constantly let down by the men in her life, and she never truly developed any friendship with women that weren't at least in large part motivated by a sense of rivalry and competition. For someone who had so much, and gave so much to the world that still endures today, she never seemed, at least in this telling of her life, to find true happiness or satisfaction. I was blown away by the number of items that are considered staples in today's fashion world that were introduced by Chanel, and how unconventional they were at the time. I was also shocked by story after story about her personal life, from the cavalier way she twisted the truth about her past, to her involvement with the Nazis, to finding out that she first sought fame on the stage before finding her calling in the fashion industry. If you want to get to know the woman behind the name, this is an intriguing and comprehensive look at her life from start to end.
brandy_wine's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very long read.
It was very interesting though. I have always liked Chanel but learning how she became was, well, wow.
I love that there are photos in the book as well to go along with it.
I love the rags to riches story. There was a lot that she went through as well as did that not many would agree with but interesting just the same.
I would love to watch a biography on her as well, I will have to look for some.
I also loved knowing that although there were some facts that they had there were some things that were not certain because she was a very quiet person with some aspects of her life.
I did enjoy this read.
It was very interesting though. I have always liked Chanel but learning how she became was, well, wow.
I love that there are photos in the book as well to go along with it.
I love the rags to riches story. There was a lot that she went through as well as did that not many would agree with but interesting just the same.
I would love to watch a biography on her as well, I will have to look for some.
I also loved knowing that although there were some facts that they had there were some things that were not certain because she was a very quiet person with some aspects of her life.
I did enjoy this read.
emmyh_reads's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
sohnesorge's review against another edition
5.0
Garelick's biography of Chanel is well-researched and well-written. She occasionally throws out a tidbit based more on speculation than fact, but you can forgive Garelick because of the chutzpah with which she does it; the amount of interesting new information she's uncovered; and the stunning (but entirely plausible) interpretations of Chanel's behaviour distilled from new eyewitness accounts, newly released top secret government files, and Garelick's own vast knowledge of her topic. Coco would have been proud. And very, very angry.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting look at the life of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. It started off pretty rough. The author states that she's not going to sentimentalize Chanel or "fall under her spell"... and then she does. But luckily, once we get into a time where more about the life of Chanel is documented, it gets better. A good book.
atroskity's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Published September 30, 2014 by Random House Publishing Group
(While technically speaking I haven’t finished this, I wanted to get my thoughts down, as I plan to dip in and out of it for a while, rather than trying to down it all at once.)
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was a prolific and fairly effective liar. Biographers and design fetishists like to say something more grand, like “self-mythologizer,” and I suppose when you are a brand first and a person second that is the expectation. But let’s call it like it is; Coco Chanel delighted in telling lies that would obscure and romanticize what she considered a boring and pitiable childhood and adolescence. She also notoriously shut down nearly every attempt to write (or more accurately, publish) her biography in her lifetime, and even beyond the grave. So, in undertaking this project, Wanda Garelick has set herself quite a challenge. And she has succeeded marvelously, so far as I can say. By taking on Chanel’s story and treating it as more than just the events in a single life, she has constructed a grand history of figures and events spanning the 80-plus years of Chanel’s life, allowing the time, place, and people surrounding the designer to tell us the story Chanel never would. The book is massive in scope (and literal size at 608 pages), and minute in detail. Every person, large or small, that touched Chanel’s life is in here, and every historical and personal event Garelick can substantiate with any degree of authenticity is likewise captured.
Chanel was a bundle of contradictions and was forever trying to find acceptance among the social elite and alleviate her sense of inferiority as a lower-class orphan. Her survival instincts were impeccable, though they often caused her to make questionable decisions; she was effectively a Nazi sympathizer, and she was well-known as the mistress of a string of married men. But she is also revered as a liberator of women from the oppression of voluminous and restrictive clothing (as well as certain social mores), and one of the first couturiers to give her seamstresses paid vacations. She was a business woman when it was not only uncommon, but often unacceptable, and she pulled herself up from the bottom rung of the social ladder using her charm and ingenuity- making connections, and using every opportunity that came her way. Despite shrouding her own life in a romantic fog, she was notoriously clear-eyed about the ways of the world, and not afraid to make enemies.
The designer’s personal and professional life is at the forefront, but the many movements and influences that shaped her designs are detailed as well. She has been credited with the “invention” of the Little Black Dress, which anyone interested in fashion history knows is a bit of a tall tale. And yet, it can’t be denied that she brought a whole new perspective to fashion- for good and ill. While she freed women in a physical sense from stays and layers, her creations were monumentally expensive for all of their simplicity, cheap fabrics, and costume jewelry, and her silhouette required a complete 180-degree reversal from the previous expectations for women; slim was in and dieting practically became a competitive sport. She also can be credited with the creation of the now commonplace celebrity-designer relationship, as well as the commodification of her own name, now immortalized in the interlocking Cs seen on her luxury goods for decades and still omnipresent around the world.
The breadth of Garelick’s research is astonishing, and the narrative, though occasionally rendered a bit heavy by so much detail, is entertaining. I plan on stretching it out for a while, and enjoying it the whole way.
(Cross-posted at BookLikes: http://atroskity.booklikes.com/post/1017677/review-mademoiselle-coco-chanel-and-the-pulse-of-history)
Published September 30, 2014 by Random House Publishing Group
(While technically speaking I haven’t finished this, I wanted to get my thoughts down, as I plan to dip in and out of it for a while, rather than trying to down it all at once.)
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was a prolific and fairly effective liar. Biographers and design fetishists like to say something more grand, like “self-mythologizer,” and I suppose when you are a brand first and a person second that is the expectation. But let’s call it like it is; Coco Chanel delighted in telling lies that would obscure and romanticize what she considered a boring and pitiable childhood and adolescence. She also notoriously shut down nearly every attempt to write (or more accurately, publish) her biography in her lifetime, and even beyond the grave. So, in undertaking this project, Wanda Garelick has set herself quite a challenge. And she has succeeded marvelously, so far as I can say. By taking on Chanel’s story and treating it as more than just the events in a single life, she has constructed a grand history of figures and events spanning the 80-plus years of Chanel’s life, allowing the time, place, and people surrounding the designer to tell us the story Chanel never would. The book is massive in scope (and literal size at 608 pages), and minute in detail. Every person, large or small, that touched Chanel’s life is in here, and every historical and personal event Garelick can substantiate with any degree of authenticity is likewise captured.
Chanel was a bundle of contradictions and was forever trying to find acceptance among the social elite and alleviate her sense of inferiority as a lower-class orphan. Her survival instincts were impeccable, though they often caused her to make questionable decisions; she was effectively a Nazi sympathizer, and she was well-known as the mistress of a string of married men. But she is also revered as a liberator of women from the oppression of voluminous and restrictive clothing (as well as certain social mores), and one of the first couturiers to give her seamstresses paid vacations. She was a business woman when it was not only uncommon, but often unacceptable, and she pulled herself up from the bottom rung of the social ladder using her charm and ingenuity- making connections, and using every opportunity that came her way. Despite shrouding her own life in a romantic fog, she was notoriously clear-eyed about the ways of the world, and not afraid to make enemies.
The designer’s personal and professional life is at the forefront, but the many movements and influences that shaped her designs are detailed as well. She has been credited with the “invention” of the Little Black Dress, which anyone interested in fashion history knows is a bit of a tall tale. And yet, it can’t be denied that she brought a whole new perspective to fashion- for good and ill. While she freed women in a physical sense from stays and layers, her creations were monumentally expensive for all of their simplicity, cheap fabrics, and costume jewelry, and her silhouette required a complete 180-degree reversal from the previous expectations for women; slim was in and dieting practically became a competitive sport. She also can be credited with the creation of the now commonplace celebrity-designer relationship, as well as the commodification of her own name, now immortalized in the interlocking Cs seen on her luxury goods for decades and still omnipresent around the world.
The breadth of Garelick’s research is astonishing, and the narrative, though occasionally rendered a bit heavy by so much detail, is entertaining. I plan on stretching it out for a while, and enjoying it the whole way.
(Cross-posted at BookLikes: http://atroskity.booklikes.com/post/1017677/review-mademoiselle-coco-chanel-and-the-pulse-of-history)
ljbentley27's review against another edition
3.0
One of the people throughout history that I have found to have one of the most fascinating lives is that of Coco Chanel.
With a life steeped in mystery and drama (mostly of her own making and legend) and with so many books have been written about her I have found out a lot of information that I never knew. I must admit that Rhonda K Garelick’s book seems to be the most comprehensive and the book that is most willing to look at Chanel’s many flaws and bad decisions. Mademoiselle is an in-depth account of the life and loves that helped shape the woman she become. It celebrates her victories along with looking at her dark and often insidious past.
Love her or loathe her, you will definitely learn about Coco Chanel and learn to respect the impact that she had on feminism and fashion.
Mademoiselle – Coco Chanel and the Pulse of Historyby Rhonda Garelick is available now.
With a life steeped in mystery and drama (mostly of her own making and legend) and with so many books have been written about her I have found out a lot of information that I never knew. I must admit that Rhonda K Garelick’s book seems to be the most comprehensive and the book that is most willing to look at Chanel’s many flaws and bad decisions. Mademoiselle is an in-depth account of the life and loves that helped shape the woman she become. It celebrates her victories along with looking at her dark and often insidious past.
Love her or loathe her, you will definitely learn about Coco Chanel and learn to respect the impact that she had on feminism and fashion.
Mademoiselle – Coco Chanel and the Pulse of Historyby Rhonda Garelick is available now.