Hooked from the first page
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Excellent!
Not the most intellectual and knowledge-ehancing biography you will read but its well written and a definite page-turner. I look forward to reading more of Oppenheimer's biographies. Now whenever I lay my hands on a scented, glossy new Vogue I think about the blood, sweat and tears that went into it.
STRONGLY recommended!
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Front row seat
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Anna Wintour is one of those people that it's almost absurdly easy to hate... especially if you've worked under her. "Front Row: Anna Wintour" opens with a description of the poor girls who show up bare-legged in freezing temperatures, all to cater to the fashion diva's whims. It gives a taste of what is to come.
Anna Wintour was born the daughter of high-ranking British parents, one a social do-gooder and the other a major newspaper editor. She followed in neither parent's footsteps -- from her early schooldays, it became obvious that Anna cared first and foremost about fashion, shortening her gym skirts and defying strict dress codes (which led to expulsion from high school).
As a teen, she was a minor club goddess. Then with her father's credentials as a calling card, Anna started delving into the world of fashion writing, including brief stints at magazines like Harper's Bazaar, the ill-fated Viva, and Home and Gardens, which she singlehandedly destroyed. Finally "nuclear Wintour" got her dream job: editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine.
Jerry Oppenheimer isn't exactly the ideal biographer, having written some truly awful biographies of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Martha Stewart. However, he does a passable job with "Front Row," by coolly and calmly exposing the many flaws of Vogue's editor-in-chief, including how she incited rebellion and destroyed at least one magazine with her celebrity-obsessed revamps.
He also does an excellent job of deflating Wintour's imposing image, by revealing the times she was found sobbing, played "little girl," or acted in a manner that could have gotten her sued. For example, we find out that she pettily fired people for not being young and attractive enough, and scuppered a bestselling author's essay because he wasn't good looking. Juicy juicy.
Unfortunately, Oppenheimer's writing is not up to the challenge. At best, his writing is dry and distant, with the odd embarrassing moment (such as a lame erection joke early in the book). He also gives detailed exposes of Wintour's assorted paramours, but her kids get almost no coverage at all. He seems more interested in the "fashion wars."
Her icy attitude and ruthlessness have made her a legend in fashion circles, but "the devil who wears Prada" loses some of her sting after this book has been read.
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A must read
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This book was really interesting to read.....I learned many new things about Anna Wintour, and in parts it was very humourours! An essential read for anyone who wants to learn more about Anna Wintour and her position at American Vogue.
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BRILLIANT AND FRIGHTENING
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OPPENHEIMER, AN AMERICAN BIOGRAPHER, HAS WRITTEN A SCRUPULOUSLY RESEARCHED PAGE-TURNER ABOUT OUR ANNA WINTOUR. I WAS AT BRITISH VOGUE WHEN SHE CAME ABOARD IN THE '80S AND SHE REALLY WAS NUCLEAR WINTOUR. THE AUTHOR HAS ALL THE FACTS. HE ALSO PAINTS A FASCINATING PORTRAIT OF ANNA'S SWINGING '60S LIFE IN LONDON. A TRULY REMARKABLE, ENTERTAINING READ.
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