As It Turns Out: Thinking About Edie and Andy

Wohl—translator and older sister of downtown New York City art world habitué Edie Sedgwick—debuts with a perceptive account of her sibling’s life. Born in 1931, Wohl grew up on isolated Santa Barbara–area ranches as the oldest of eight children, all brought up by extremely controlling parents. In response to Edie’s shock at catching their father having an affair in 1957, he “called the doctor and said she was crazy; the doctor came and put her to bed and shot her full of tranquilizers.” Edie was in tumult, argues Wohl, long before she met Andy Warhol or entered the wild world of the mid-1960s that ended in her 1971 death by a drug overdose. Wohl barely saw Edie during her Warhol years, and in an attempt to piece together “what she had that I so totally failed to see, but that he saw and put to such effective use,” traces her meteoric rise and positions her as a precursor to today’s social media influencers, though only at Warhol’s doing, as it wasn’t “in Edie’s nature.” Striking photos help tell the story, and Wohl’s exhaustive examination of her sister’s vulnerability and star appeal give this a unique position among the many books on the Warhol scene. The result is a thoughtful exploration of a tumultuous life. (Aug.)