PanThe Arts FuseMostly told in the chronological narrative of memoir, As It Turns Out travels through several abrupt changes in style and tone that suggest it may have begun as parts of two or three different texts: a personal memoir, an account of Edie’s life in the central year of 1965, and a meditation on its significance, addressed to their brother, Bobby, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1965, only months after another brother had committed suicide ... Wohl eventually admits she never actually knew her sister. She apprehends her life (like almost everyone else) through her many media images. That doesn’t prevent her publisher from framing this memoir as an insider’s view of Edie and Andy’s world. This is a bit of a bait and switch ... despite all the books, including this one, there is much more about Andy and Edie that could be said.
Barbara Bloemink
PositiveThe Arts FuseBloemink...raises some interesting questions about how artistic reputations are built and maintained, about the development of American art in the 20th-century, about social class, gender roles, and the influence of gender on aesthetics ... She makes ample use of primary sources, particularly Florine’s diaries and her often sardonic poetry. The biographer’s trenchant arguments, nearly always convincing, analyze Stettheimer’s feminism, her uniquely feminine style, her radical social attitudes, and her adventurous approach to art-making. Bloemink patiently deciphers the sources, characters, and events that shaped Stettheimer’s major works, with savvy attention to their social and political significance. Her book, beautifully produced in Germany, has all the illustrations, in black and white and color, one could reasonably ask for. The book has two main flaws, neither of which is really Bloemink’s fault. One is Stettheimer’s highly privileged social class, which kept her from the financial, social, and aspirational challenges that make up the meat of many biographies of creative people. It sometimes seems that the greatest dramas Stettheimer ever faced were dealing with hotel food and the endless social obligations of being part of a large, upper class family ... Bloemink discovers that critical pages have been cut out of Florine’s diary, rendering the climax of the affair a loss to history. As a result, Stettheimer probably comes across as a bit more stuffy, detached from the trials of life, and querulous than she was in real life.
