Customer Reviews

Chanel: A Woman of her Own

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was extremely interesting to read. Considering Chanel's habbit of often lying about her past, many biographers had given up on trying to tell her story. That's probably why the book lacks reasoning behind certain facts of her life, although the author did the best he could to provide his own viewpoint about some of the unenswered questions. The book is wonderful and it leaves the reader with plenty of room to use his/her own imagination to reveal some of the mysteries behind Chanel's great genious.

I adore Coco Chanel: she has been a huge inspiration for me, and not just style-wise. As a huge fan, I read every piece of literature I can find on her, and this is definitely one of the best biographies out there. Having read quite a few before, I did not learn anything new, but if this is your first look at Mademoiselle's life, you'll have your money's worth! From her childhood to her deathbed, with her business, lovers, involvement in the arts, friendships with authors and artists of the 20's and the 30's, this book skips nothing.

For anyone interested in fashion and it's history, strong and inspiring women and the history of early 20th century art revolution, this book will be very enjoyable.

(Note: French being my first language, I had no problems with the names, as another reviewer noted, but I can see that being perhaps a bit challenging, especially if your knowledge of the era is limited...)

I'm still reading but wanted to mention that if you have never taken a French class, it is very hard to pronounce most of the names in the book.

Although very insightful finding it a hard read.