February 28, 2022
The life and influence of fashion mogul Anna Wintour (b. 1949) gets an engrossing examination in this account from journalist Odell (Tales from the Back Row). The daughter of venerated reporter Charles Wintour, who was deputy editor for the London Evening Standard in the 1950s, Anna was exposed early to the “glamorous and intellectual milieu” of the writing world. This proved advantageous when she began her climb up the magazine ranks in her early 20s, beginning in 1970 at London’s Harpers & Queen, where, as a fashion assistant, she honed her signature “high-low taste.” Following Wintour’s move to New York City in 1975 and her stint of freelance writing gigs that eventually opened the doors to Vogue, Odell’s snappy narrative charts her relentless mission to make the magazine “the biggest, most valuable... in its category” (which she did) by taking the reins as its editor-in-chief in 1988. As Odell relates, “not emotion, not corporate bullshit, and not losing” would stand in Wintour’s way. What scintillates, however, are the intimate details about a famously inscrutable subject—who attributes her signature shades to her “acute light sensitivity” and is a “fiercely devoted” grandmother—as well as the blunt treatment of Wintour’s more problematic sides, including her history of body shaming. This fascinating look at an enigmatic figure will captivate sartorialists and Vogue acolytes.
March 1, 2022
How the legendary editor of Vogue assembled her extraordinary corporate and personal power. Though Wintour declined to be interviewed for this book, Odell, a fashion journalist and author of Tales From the Back Row: An Outsider's View From Inside the Fashion Industry, explains that she "blessed the project" so that her friends and colleagues would feel comfortable speaking about her. More than 250 sources did so--Tina Brown even shared her diary--and the author also mined earlier interviews, memoirs by friends and associates, a 2006 biography by Jerry Oppenheimer, and even Wintour's lectures for MasterClass.com. Yet as Odell acknowledges in her introduction, the frustrating fact is that "the many people interviewed for this book had a hard time explaining why she is so powerful and what her power amounts to." This biography could not be any more thorough on the who, what, when, where, and how of Wintour, but without the why, the enigma remains. One notable example is Wintour's long, intense friendship with the recently deceased designer and editor Andr� Leon Talley. Wintour, "as cold and removed as she is said to be," had a connection to Talley unlike any other. Often deferring to him on matters of taste, Wintour gave him a huge salary and nearly unlimited expense account and paid for him to attend a three-month weight-loss program at the Duke Lifestyle and Weight Management Center. Even when Talley was sometimes rude to her--and even when he told an interviewer, "I do not think she will ever let anything get in the way of her white privilege"--she never flinched. Concerning almost everyone else in her life, she "just moved on." Why were these relationships so different? In this recollection, we never learn. More satisfying is the section dealing with the book and movie The Devil Wears Prada. The book may satisfy fashion industry devotees, but Anna's iconic sunglasses still don't come off.
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April 1, 2022
Instantly recognizable for the haircut and sunglasses Anna Wintour is often reduced to the "chilly" caricature of her in Lauren Weisberger's novel The Devil Wears Prada. Odell (Tales from the Back Row) interviewed more than 250 industry and personal contacts to assemble the most comprehensive biography of the media icon, although Wintour herself declined to be interviewed for the book. The biography sometimes reads more like a fashion history than a life story. Wintour held important positions before Vogue, but her 1988 appointment as the magazine's editor in chief was what mattered; in 2013, she ascended to the role of artistic director of Cond� Nast, Vogue's parent company. Despite these accomplishments, Wintour has expressed a wish that her legacy be defined not by her editorship but by her philanthropy (including support of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute and the CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund). The biography also includes 16 pages of full-color photographs. VERDICT A challenging read for those lacking industry knowledge, but it still fascinates with Odell's well-documented account of Wintour's broad influence.--Jessica A. Bushore
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from April 15, 2022
In this biography of Vogue editor-in-chief and Cond� Nast executive Anna Wintour, fashion journalist Odell (Tales from the Back Row, 2015) lifts a couture curtain to reveal the woman behind the famous sunglasses and glossy bob. In her author's note, Odell writes that, while Anna did not agree to be interviewed, she ""blessed the project,"" putting the author in touch with many of her closest connections. Having interviewed over 250 sources (many of whom are unforgettable and quotable characters themselves), and providing ample notes, Odell takes readers through Wintour's lifelong love of fashion, her personal life and romantic relationships, and, primarily, her decades-long career. Inspired by clothes and art but bored by school, and nurtured in her writing talent by her esteemed newspaper editor father, Anna rose through the ranks as if it was predestined, her sights on editing Vogue a ""well-known secret."" In relating Anna's undisputed remarkableness, Odell doesn't gloss over her missteps, either. While Odell's nimble writing moves at a clip, the extent and detail here make this perfect for fashion devotees and fans of publishing industry tales, as Anna's career coincides with sea changes in magazine journalism, from celebrities replacing cover models to, most consequentially, the birth of the internet.
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