A: A Novel

Andy Warhol

Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated, 1998 - Fiction - 458 pages

Conceptually unique, hilarious, and frightening, referred to as "pornography" in The New York Times Book Review's original review and as "a work of genius" in Newsweek's, a: a novel is the perfect literary manifestation of Andy Warhol's sensibility. In the late sixties Warhol set out to turn a trade book into a piece of pop art, and the result was a: a novel -- a day in the life of the Factory crew. Created from tape-recorded conversations between Warhol and his entourage, a: a novel begins with the fabulous Ondine popping several amphetamines and then follows its characters as they converse with inspired speed-driven wit, and cut swaths through the clubs, coffeeshops, hospitals, and whorehouses of 1960s Manhattan.

About the author

Born near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of immigrant Czech parents, American artist Andy Warhol studied art at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. He then worked as a commercial artist in New York City. In the early 1960s, Warhol became the most famous pioneer of "pop art," which used comic books, advertisements, and consumer goods as subject matter. Warhol's colorful paintings of Campbell's soup can labels, boxes of Brillo pads, and celebrity icons such as Marilyn Monroe, became among the most recognizable examples of pop art. Warhol was also a filmmaker as well as a painter and graphic artist; his more memorable films include Trash (1969) and Frankenstein (1973). His studio, called "The Factory," became infamous as a locale for eccentrics and eccentric behavior, much of it associated with the New York drug scene. It was Warhol who predicted that, "in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.

Bibliographic information

• Title: A: A Novel
• Author: Andy Warhol
• Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated, 1998
• ISBN: 0802135536, 9780802135537
• Length: 458 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Literary