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Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women)
 
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Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women) [Paperback]

Axel Madsen (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women) + Coco Before Chanel [DVD] [2009] + The September Issue [DVD] [2009]
Price For All Three: £16.06

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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (3 Aug 2009)
  • ISBN-10: 1408805812
  • ISBN-13: 978-1408805817
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 8,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
    #27 in  Books > Biography > Women

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Axel Madsen
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Product Description

Review

'Axel Madsen's book cuts through the falsehoods. Set against the realism of historical events, it skilfully analyses the creation of the Chanel phenomenon' Vogue 'The best yet book on the big C' Elle 'A great rags to riches story and the fascination of the gorgon does come through' Irish Independent 'A lively biography of the extraordinary fashion designer whose life was from start to finish an extravaganza' Financial Times

Product Description

Coco Chanel's genius for fashion may have been distilled in simplicity, but her life was an extravaganza. A brilliant array of luminaries fell under her spell - Picasso, Churchill, Cocteau; lovers included the Grand Duke Dmitri; the English roue, Boy Capel; a French poet; and, a German spy and the Duke of Westminster, who offered to leave his wife for her permanently, if she would only bear him an heir. Paradoxically, though she might have been regarded in some lights as a pioneering feminist - sacrificing marriage to a revolutionary career in couture - Chanel was utterly baffled by the idea of women's politics. Educated women? 'A woman's education consists of two lessons: never leave the house without stockings, never go out without a hat'. Chanel's rise from penniless orphan to millionaire designer - 'inventing' sportswear, the little black dress and number 5 - makes compelling reading, not least because she was inclined to design her own life as deftly as she did her fashions. Axel Madsen negotiates Chanel's smoke screens with skill, bringing this tantalizing woman to life in all her alluring complexity.
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women)
74% buy the item featured on this page:
Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women) by Axel Madsen Paperback 3.7 out of 5 stars (6)
£6.09
Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life
7% buy
Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life by Justine Picardie Hardcover
£12.49
The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman
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The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman by Karen Karbo Hardcover 2.8 out of 5 stars (6)
£7.78
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars For me, hard work..., 17 Jan 2010
By LittleReader (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women) (Paperback)
Fascinated by Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel and an avid biography reader, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this.

Unfortunately, I was ultimately disappointed; Spanning decades of World Wars and huge political changes, Coco Chanel was a breath of (very chic) fresh air and I expected to be taken on an exciting ride along the waves of high fashion - her designs, her intimate personal life secrets, her inspirations - and though some of this was evident, it mainly felt like a hotch-potch of very relevant facts of interest and superfluous information regarding the 'players' of her life. I just didnt see how it was relevant to detail two or three paragraphs on the heritage of, say, who she hired to defend herself in one of her many Court battles or who the sister's mother of one of her many beau's was once married to! It drove me mad! There was just too much hyper-detailed information on non-relevant aspects of her life and for this reason, I found it hard work. The writing was often unclear; the sentance construction clumsy as a result of too many words!

Though clearly AM has done lots of research and provides a very comprehensive read-around, the main aspects seem to have been missed. There wasn't enough about the fashions, the fabrics, the make up of 'Chanel', and huge chunks were simply missed out - she went from opening a store to employing thousands in the space of a couple of chapters.
Worth a read, certainly, but I will be looking for more work about the life of this icon in order to gain a better insight...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A bit too heavy, 11 Mar 2010
By L. J. Bailey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women) (Paperback)
I was interested in reading more about coco Chanels life after watching the film 'Coco before Chanel'.
I found this book really heavy and a struggle to read in some places. I felt it gave me facts that i really didn't want to know, about other people and situations that i felt were drifting of from Chanel.
It had some nice pictures and i did learn a great deal about this fasinating women, although i did 'skip through' parts of this book that didn't interest me.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Mlle Chanel, 24 Nov 2009
By Amandine (France) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Coco Chanel: A Biography (Bloomsbury Lives of Women) (Paperback)
They say it is better to be born lucky than rich. After an inauspicious start, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (what a beautiful name) found herself in the right place at the right time. Through her strength of character - for she certainly was a survivor - and her own skill and uncompromising attitude to fashion and life generally, she made it to the top of her profession.
Names you will recognise and some you may not, trip easily from the pages. I found the description of the war years particularly interesting. The author clearly has researched this book very well. He gives 27 pages of notes on sources and another six for the bibliography. The photographs are very much an added bonus. There seem to be one or two small proof reading errors e.g. Page 290, Pierre Wertheimer's Derby winner is stated as "Lavandin" whereas the photograph caption states "Lanvin". Unless his horses won more than once (I am not a racing expert) this would seem to be an error. However, don't let this put you off as Axel Madsen has done a fabulous job and I enjoyed the book very much.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Cathy
I found this book totally uninteresting. The print was very small and I could not turn a page over from sheer boredom. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Cathy T.

5.0 out of 5 stars Coco Chanel
This book is an easy to read but extremely informative and you feel sure it is as true as it can be. She was a very complex and interesting person.
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. Wendy P. Neal

5.0 out of 5 stars Friends Delighted
This Book was given as a Birthday Present...
The feedback from my friend was Very Positive,
Viz., Terrific Read.. Most Enjoyable, a Big Hit!!
Published 10 months ago by Wwk Lawlor

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