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What is Edie: An American Biography

Full title: Edie: An American Biography (also published as Edie: American Girl)
Authors: Jean Stein, edited with George Plimpton.
First published in 1982.
It is an oral‐history style biography — meaning it is made up largely of interviews, reminiscences, and multiple people’s testimony about Edie Sedgwick rather than a single continuous narrative by the author.

Who is Edie Sedgwick

From the material in the book and other sources:

Born Edith Minturn Sedgwick on April 20, 1943, in Santa Barbara, California.
From a wealthy, socially prominent New England / California family, with intersections of high society and old money.
Her early life was troubled: family instability; mental health issues; difficult relationships; a controlling or “brutal but glamorous” father is repeatedly mentioned in descriptions.
She became a socialite, fashion figure, actress / model, but is most famous for being one of Andy Warhol’s Superstars in the 1960s. She worked in Warhol’s Factory, appeared in his short films, became a kind of emblem of the 60s art / pop / fashion / party scene.
Her life includes significant struggle with substance abuse, mental instability, and a sense of inner conflict: flashiness and promise vs. disintegration.
She died on November 16, 1971, at age 28, from “acute barbiturate intoxication” (drug overdose).

The biography is structured through many voices: friends, family members, lovers, colleagues, and others who knew or encountered Edie. Because of this, the narrative is fragmentary – multiple perspectives that sometimes conflict.
It delves into her family background in depth: the Sedgwick family, early childhood, siblings, expectations, upbringing. This sets up context for Edie’s psychological landscape.
It traces her move to New York, involvement with the avant garde / pop art world, her association with Andy Warhol, her career as muse / actress / model.
It also depicts the decline: drug use, mental health crises, institutionalizations, her romantic and personal relationships, the making of the semi‐autobiographical film Ciao! Manhattan, and finally her death.

The 1960s counterculture, art & celebrity: Edie’s life becomes an entry point into the glamour and the dark side of the “scene” around Warhol.
Psychological fragility & self‐identity: Edie is portrayed as someone oscillating between being objectified/famous and deeply troubled internally. Her identity, self‐image, longing for connection, and self‐destructive tendencies are recurring.
Family, privilege, and expectations: How her background of wealth and social status both offered opportunities and imposed pressures.
The nature of fame and muse‐hood: The book questions what it means to be a “muse” — someone else’s inspiration — and how that role can be both inspiring and suffocating. Edie’s relationship with Warhol, the public gaze, fashion, photography, etc.

Oral history format gives the book a mosaic feel. It allows multiple voices and perspectives. Some find this very compelling; others think it leads to a fragmented sense—voices sometimes contradict each other, which reflects partly the chaos of Edie’s life.
Critics have praised it for capturing not only Edie’s life but also the spirit, excess, and glamour + tragedy of a particular moment in American cultural history (the 60s).
Some criticism: the “gossip” and sensational detail can be overwhelming; book sometimes is charged with voyeurism; some think it glamorizes or doesn’t sufficiently critique the cult of fame.

The book is considered a classic biography of Edie Sedgwick; it helped solidify her image in popular culture as the tragic icon of the 60s)
It is also used by students, scholars, fans of art & pop culture, fashion history, as one of the richest sources about Warhol’s scene, Edie’s personal side, and the human toll of fame.
The style – oral history / mosaic of voices – has influenced how some biographies are written (especially those about pop figures where many people were involved).