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Steven Gaines; Sharon Churcher Obsession: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein
Carol Pub Group 1994 1559722355 / 9781559722353 H Fine
1559722355 1559722355 From Publishers Weekly This expose is little more than a re-hash of material that has appeared in supermarket tabloids over the years. Born in 1942 in the Bronx, Klein, who from an early age accompanied his mother whenever she shopped for her clothes, by the age of five knew he wanted to be a fashion designer. After attending Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology, he apprenticed at several fashion houses. Barely taking time out to marry Jayne Centre and have a daughter, Marci, Klein doggedly pursued success, finally opening his own company in 1968. As his business prospered, his sexual interest in men, which began discreetly, ran out of control. The authors also address Klein's alcohol and drug abuse; his hypochondria and dread of AIDS; the kidnapping of his 11-year-old daughter in 1978; his alleged "borrowing" of ideas from other designers; his divorce and marriage to Kelly Rector (they live in separate apartments); his addiction to the famous nightspot Studio 54 and to its owner, Steve Rubell; and his rehabilitation for alcohol and drug abuse. Gaines ( Simply Halston ) and Churcher ( New York Confidential ) have written a soap opera-ish biography that will be of interest only to fashion mavens. Photos. Author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Gaines's last book was a warts-and-all portrait of fashion designer Halston ( Simply Halston, LJ 9/15/91) that did little more than show how sadly dissipated a celebrity's life can be. Readers with a taste for the sordid can now immerse themselves in the misery of another fashion all-star, Calvin Klein. Dubbed the "American Yves Saint Laurent," Klein is portrayed as a gifted but insecure perfectionist, scrooge, and hypochondriac. Despite his enormous success--largely due to his gift for self-promotion--he seems to have waged an endless struggle to come to grips with his homosexuality, his dependence on drugs, and, above all, his fear of failure. Although the author describes interesting aspects of the fashion industry, he tends to linger over inconsequential details and drift from subject to subject. His opening pages tell of the kidnapping of Klein's daughter, but the outcome is not revealed for several hundred pages! Recommended only for libraries with popular reading sections. - Margarete Gross, Chicago P.L. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Price:
3.44 USD
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