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jnmph76's review against another edition
2.0
An ok read. Not really as deep as I thought it would be. I thought it might be more directly from Ms. Chanel herself, but it's more contemporary...and infused with the author's attempt at humor.
afox98's review against another edition
4.0
Very enjoyable and light read about Chanel's beginnings and life. The author's tone was casual and funny, and Chanel herself was quite the interesting topic.
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
3.0
I can't say much for the writing, but the story was interesting. I enjoyed reading about who Chanel was more than about the fashion though because one thing that would have really helped this book would be actual pictures of the clothes that were discussed! Fun read you can put down and pick back up again weeks later (like I did).
fluteplayer7's review against another edition
1.0
This is a good one to skip unless you really don't have anything better to read. I generally enjoy these "light" books about fashion and fashion divas but I this one didn't have many redeeming qualities. Chanel is an enigma. She intentionally kept her private life obscure (mostly by lying about it!) and no amount of research is going to unearth much about her. I adore Chanel, partly because she is so unknowable. I didn't expect to find many facts in here that I didn't already know. I got what I expected in that regard.
What I did not like about this book were the extended, long-winded, irrelevant tangents that involved the author's inane obsession with shopping for Chanel on ebay (why would you do that, anyway??) and other personal diatribes about modern social thinking that seem to terribly miss the mark. Part psuedo-science, part psuedo-psychology and totally unfounded "truths" about modern social thinking on topics like marriage, dating, women's self-image and fashion cropped up several times, often not terribly related to Chanel at all and containing to real information or factual basis.
When I want to read about other people's personal opinions/pet peeves/rants, I opt for a book that claims to be that. I don't want to read about them in a book that claims to be about Chanel.
What I did not like about this book were the extended, long-winded, irrelevant tangents that involved the author's inane obsession with shopping for Chanel on ebay (why would you do that, anyway??) and other personal diatribes about modern social thinking that seem to terribly miss the mark. Part psuedo-science, part psuedo-psychology and totally unfounded "truths" about modern social thinking on topics like marriage, dating, women's self-image and fashion cropped up several times, often not terribly related to Chanel at all and containing to real information or factual basis.
When I want to read about other people's personal opinions/pet peeves/rants, I opt for a book that claims to be that. I don't want to read about them in a book that claims to be about Chanel.
ashleynestlermsw's review against another edition
5.0
I love Coco Chanel. She is one of my idols and this book gave a quick history of her life as well as what some of her views were. It's a nice little coffee table read.
brinnet's review against another edition
3.0
A good overall view of Chanel's life with "life lessons" (some tongue in cheek, some not) thrown in throughout. This book would have been stronger if either the story of Chanel or the lessons took center stage, but instead it wandered back and forth between the two, never making the focus of the book clear. With that said, Karen Karbo has a sometimes-irreverent tone that keeps the book a fun read. I'm taking her list of books in the "Acknowledgements" section and adding most of them to my "to read" list. I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to a friend, but I didn't consider it a waste of my time reading it, either.
0hwell00hwell's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5