The Asylum: A collage of couture reminiscences...and hysteria
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Graphic Design
The Asylum: A collage of couture reminiscences...and hysteria Details
From Booklist “Ah! Fashion. A nuthouse? A refuge? Or maybe both,” muses Doonan in the introduction to this raucous and revelatory essay collection. “Yes, an asylum,” he goes on to explain, “in both senses of the word. A place where unemployable crazy people are always welcome.” Doonan, who designed window displays for Barneys New York before becoming the elegant retailer’s Creative Ambassador, knows the fashion world inside out. Here he opines on the trends (and tics) that make it tick, from an obsession with “raw” food diets to astonishingly dumb models (like the one who, when overhearing a conversation about Marie Antoinette, asked which agency she was with). Doonan especially enjoys dishing on fashion’s plethora of prickly personalities, from brilliant, dark-hearted designer Diana Vreeland (“Exaggeration is my only reality”) to infamous Vogue editor Anna Wintour, whose sinister behaviors are the basis for the Meryl Streep character in The Devil Wears Prada. Even readers whose fashion sense is more Gap than GQ will find keen insight and humor in Doonan’s cheeky take on what it means to be chic. --Allison Block Read more Review Praise for The Asylum: “Simon Doonan's hysterical first row, firsthand observations are a must-read for fashionistas and non-fashionsitas alike.”—Michael Kors “The fashion world is—in a word—hysterical! Simon Doonan is the one man who sees it and tells it like it (absurdly) is.”—Marc Jacobs “Simon Doonan is the Bon Qui Qui of Fashion—stirring things up and reminding us to keep a sense of humor.”—Alexander Wang “In The Asylum, Simon Doonan's comedic genius explodes out of highbrow shoe boxes.”—Leandra Medine, author, and blogger of The Man Repeller“[A] raucous and revelatory essay collection....[Doonan] knows the fashion world inside out....Even readers whose fashion sense is more Gap than GQ will find keen insight and humor in Doonan’s cheeky take on what it means to be chic.”—Booklist“Hilarious, irresistible essays about the sheer lunacy of the fashion world, from a sharp-eyed (and even sharper-tongued) industry insider.”—People “The funniest fashion book of all time.”—Lucky Magazine“These snappy essays find Doonan surprisingly more sincere and charming than ever… A gossipy, voyeuristic and reliably campy romp down the catwalks of the fashion asylum.”—Kirkus Reviews “Simon Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barney's and Slate columnist, is one of culture writing's funniest voices.”—The New Republic“Simon Doonan is a legend in the fashion world. Wickedly funny, wildly creative...has an insider's view of global style and its peculiar inhabitants....Indeed, those loony, creative types are what have kept Doonan interested for the decades he's been in the fashion business. And what makes his book so entertaining for the rest of us.”—Suzanne S. Brown, The Denver Post Read more See all Editorial Reviews
Reviews
I loved this book (and all of Simon Doonan's books).First, they are laugh-out-loud funny.Second, I actually learn things -- not just about fashion, but Simon's creative references are so vast, I find myself making notes of movies to see, books to read, and countless other things to explore that he often mentions merely in passing. (See GAY MEN DON'T GET FAT for an extraordinary such list -- "The Gay Canon" in the chapter "The Bitter Tears of Jackie O"). Throughout each and every chapter of his works, I feel inspired to dive further into some off-hand reference he mentions.Third, Simon is writing about fashion (mostly) and other parallel, ephemeral topics and yet his keen intelligence and his sweet, soulful disposition allows us a deeper journey into some very human topics, for example the over-arching ambition of the young. IE, there's more depth here than the cornucopia of wit and fashion-emphasis might immediately suggest.Finally, the essay format is perfect -- one can dip in and out of essays at will or swallow the book in a whole sitting (as I did on a flight from JFK to Rome) -- but I realized that it works so well because each one is jam-packed with humor and charm and insight. [What I'm trying to say, is that you'll definitely have fun re-reading these essays for pleasure and picking up tidbits you might have missed the first time around.]In short, a thoroughly delightful book for anyone who cares about fashion, culture, or even just takes pleasure in the observations of a truly witty yet good-natured person observing the follies of our times.
