This is a lavishly illustrated large format book (11"x11") by one time Warhol associate David Bourdon. It tells the oft told story of how a sickly boy from a poor immigrant family became one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century, who's images of the famous and the mundane still influence art, design fashion and advertising today.

Even though the book is over 400 pages long with the author obviously interviewing many of the artist friends and family, Bourdon does not really document Warhol's life in any great detail. If that is what you are looking for, I suggest Victor Bockris excellent detailed biography "Warhol". Having said that, the author does cover all the main events of Warhol's life in a gossipy easy to read style (one which Warhol himself might have enjoyed).

The books main attraction is the amount of full page colour illustrations of the artists work. Probably around two thirds of the books 432 pages are given over to this, beginning with Warhol's first drawings at Pittsburgh Art College up to his last series The Last Supper.

Bourdon argues a convincing case for Warhol's importance as an artist and how more than several of the artist's concepts (I hesitate to call them theories) on the nature of celebrity and the business of art have entered the public conscience. I doubt we would have had Basquiat, Emin and Hirst without Warhol. The book shows how Warhol was and still is the perfect mirror for his age. From the Campbell soup tins, underground films, the drugs and sex filled Factory or the fame obsessed, celebrity portraits of the 70's.

If you are after an indepth biography of Andy Warhol I suggest that you try Bockris instead. However, if you are after a beautifully illustrated volume of Warhol's work and a good introduction to is life and work I strongly recommend this book.

Andy Warhol is one of the most perplexing figures in recent history. He ironically became his subject matter of choice--the pop culture icon. He was a legend in his own time, and yet it is difficult to separate the myths from the man. This book is one of the best I've read on Warhol. Art critic David Bourdon has a unique position as a close friend of Andy's, a difficult endeavor given the artist's tendency to remain aloof and mysterious. Bourdon gives an intimate biographical portrait, as well as a very thorough retrospective of Warhol's career[with over 300 illustrations!] This book is a must for anyone interested in exploring Warhol's work, as well as the more personal aspects of his life that determined the direction that his art took.