What do you think?
Rate this book
How Georgia Became O'Keeffe: Lessons On The Art Of Living
A fresh, revealing look at the artist who continues to inspire new generations of women.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2011
42 people are currently reading
1074 people want to read
About the author
Karen Karbo
34 books225 followersKaren Karbo's first novel, Trespassers Welcome Here, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a Village Voice Top Ten Book of the Year. Her other two adult novels, The Diamond Lane and Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me, were also named New York Times Notable Books. The Stuff of Life, about the last year she spent with her father before his death, was an NYT Notable Book, a People Magazine Critics' Choice, a Books for a Better Life Award finalist, and a winner of the Oregon Book Award for Creative Non-fiction.
Karbo is most well known for her international best-selling Kick Ass Women series, which examines the lives of a quartet of iconic 20th century women. Julia Child Rules (2013), How Georgia Became O'Keeffe (2011), The Gospel According to Coco Chanel (2009), and How to Hepburn (2007)
Her short stories, essays, articles and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, Esquire, Outside, O, More, The New Republic, The New York Times, salon.com and other magazines. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, was a winner of the General Electric Younger Writer Award, and was one of 24 writers chosen for the inaugural Amtrak Writers residency.
In addition, Karbo penned three books in the Minerva Clark mystery series for children: Minerva Clark Gets A Clue, Minerva Clark Goes to the Dogs, and Minerva Clark Gives Up the Ghost.
She is the co-author, with Gabrielle Reece, of Big Girl in the Middle, and the New York Times bestselling, My Foot is Too Big for the Glass Slipper: A Guide to the Less than Perfect Life.
Karbo also contributed to the anthologies, The Bitch is Back and What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most.
Karen grew up in Los Angeles, California and lives in Portland, Oregon where she continues to kick ass.
Karbo is most well known for her international best-selling Kick Ass Women series, which examines the lives of a quartet of iconic 20th century women. Julia Child Rules (2013), How Georgia Became O'Keeffe (2011), The Gospel According to Coco Chanel (2009), and How to Hepburn (2007)
Her short stories, essays, articles and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, Esquire, Outside, O, More, The New Republic, The New York Times, salon.com and other magazines. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, was a winner of the General Electric Younger Writer Award, and was one of 24 writers chosen for the inaugural Amtrak Writers residency.
In addition, Karbo penned three books in the Minerva Clark mystery series for children: Minerva Clark Gets A Clue, Minerva Clark Goes to the Dogs, and Minerva Clark Gives Up the Ghost.
She is the co-author, with Gabrielle Reece, of Big Girl in the Middle, and the New York Times bestselling, My Foot is Too Big for the Glass Slipper: A Guide to the Less than Perfect Life.
Karbo also contributed to the anthologies, The Bitch is Back and What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most.
Karen grew up in Los Angeles, California and lives in Portland, Oregon where she continues to kick ass.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
June 14, 2012
If this hadn't been the selection for our book club this month I would have stopped reading it after the first two chapters. I found the author's style intensely irritating and, given the comments she made throughout the book, I have no faith it was thoroughly researched. She gives advice that is often ridiculous and (at times) contradictory. This author chooses fascinating subjects (O'Keeffe, Hepburn, Chanel), but her style made it very difficult for me to pick up the book at all, let alone finish it. I am eager to read an actual biography of O'Keeffe, but think I will have to wait a while for the memory of this read to fade before I do. I have no intention to read this author's other books.
January 31, 2012
I read this for my local Book Club. We're planning a trip down to Ghost Ranch (though I don't know if I'm going to be able to go yet).
Karbo's approach to this biography is an interesting one. She works steadily through the historical details of O'Keeffe's life, art, and marriage in the context of "lessons" that the reader can apply to her own life. I don't usually enjoy this kind of "self-help" style, but Karbo's self-deprecating, this-is-my-life-too anecdotes made it much more tolerable. Realizing Karbo is a gamer definitely made it easier for me to relate to her approach, as well.
As someone who dreamed of living in the American Southwest--and now does--it would seem that I should have encountered much more O'Keeffe already. Sadly, I'm only familiar with the big flowers and the deer skulls; this book has made me think I need to seek out more of her art. I don't know that I need the Big Poppy or the tilt-your-head-is-that-really??? flower paintings in my life, but I know that if (okay, when) I leave the Southwest, I will want something of the landscape to go with me. Perhaps a big print of a Georgia O'Keeffe will suffice.
Karbo's approach to this biography is an interesting one. She works steadily through the historical details of O'Keeffe's life, art, and marriage in the context of "lessons" that the reader can apply to her own life. I don't usually enjoy this kind of "self-help" style, but Karbo's self-deprecating, this-is-my-life-too anecdotes made it much more tolerable. Realizing Karbo is a gamer definitely made it easier for me to relate to her approach, as well.
As someone who dreamed of living in the American Southwest--and now does--it would seem that I should have encountered much more O'Keeffe already. Sadly, I'm only familiar with the big flowers and the deer skulls; this book has made me think I need to seek out more of her art. I don't know that I need the Big Poppy or the tilt-your-head-is-that-really??? flower paintings in my life, but I know that if (okay, when) I leave the Southwest, I will want something of the landscape to go with me. Perhaps a big print of a Georgia O'Keeffe will suffice.
August 27, 2012
It's a new book and it's about O'Keeffe, whom I love beyond reason, so of course I had to read it. Turns out the book is a weird self-help / memoir / biography thing with a profusion of allegedly pithy footnotes, that came off as being self-indulgent.
August 8, 2017
Karbo describes the essence and soul of O'Keeffe with quirky humor, and it's refreshing to see something aside from a traditional and stuffy biography delving into the how of an artist as opposed to merely the what.
February 1, 2016
I bought this in anticipation of my first visit to New Mexico, the land O’Keeffe loved and used as inspiration. I had high expectations of a brilliant biography with memoir-type nuggets sprinkled throughout (an expectation gleaned from reading the summary and a few positive reviews online). Expectations shattered. It sucked. Karbo has a very loosey-goosey way of researching O’Keeffe’s life, and perhaps 75% of the text is the author dithering on her own life, her own (uninteresting) experiences, blah blah blah. The bibliography at the end is short, and the book’s pages are full of annoying footnotes to insert (even more of) the author’s opinion. Seriously, 3 or 4 footnotes per page, with perhaps 6 in the entire book being used for any kind of citation of another book, a fact about painting, or reference to an art piece. Aggravating! I don’t want to jump from paragraph to footnote every 30 seconds to be filled in on your banter! Gah. One review I read compared this book to a poorly written blog post, and I tend to agree. Not much biographical content, or info on O’Keeffe’s thoughts on art or politics or relationships, or even any direct link to her finished paintings. Skip this; it is a super annoying read. Two more O’Keeffe biographies ordered, I hope they pan out.
June 6, 2014
I read this for bookclub. Was looking forward to it because I love Georgia O'Keeffe - I was in Albuquerque for a conference years ago, and one of the highlights of the trip was the day we "played hooky" and went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe. She was an outstanding individual and a strong personality. I love looking at her paintings.
I liked learning more about O'Keeffe's life. Was she ahead of her time, or was she the type of person who would seem out of place in any time? She seemed to be driven by her own goals, and not by what society expected of her. Yes, she became one of the most commercially successful artists ever, but I didn't get the sense that this was the point of it all.
Unfortunately, I wasn't so fond of the way the author told the story. This made it a slow read for me - although it's easy reading, I could only take so much at a time! Karbo's writing style is very conversational, frequent tangents, strangely personal and even spiteful judgments of the people in O'Keeffe's life (and an O'Keeffe scholar who isn't named). More like a slightly edited blog than a book.
The "life lessons" aspect of the book seemed a bit tacked on as well, and some of the lessons were trivial or even dangerous (sunscreen is a useful invention!) ... I wish O'Keeffe had written her own book of life lessons. Marlene Dietrich wrote such a book (Marlene Dietrich's Abc, and it's fantastic. Sample quotation: "I'd rather go to the hardware store than the opera. And I like the opera."
I liked learning more about O'Keeffe's life. Was she ahead of her time, or was she the type of person who would seem out of place in any time? She seemed to be driven by her own goals, and not by what society expected of her. Yes, she became one of the most commercially successful artists ever, but I didn't get the sense that this was the point of it all.
Unfortunately, I wasn't so fond of the way the author told the story. This made it a slow read for me - although it's easy reading, I could only take so much at a time! Karbo's writing style is very conversational, frequent tangents, strangely personal and even spiteful judgments of the people in O'Keeffe's life (and an O'Keeffe scholar who isn't named). More like a slightly edited blog than a book.
The "life lessons" aspect of the book seemed a bit tacked on as well, and some of the lessons were trivial or even dangerous (sunscreen is a useful invention!) ... I wish O'Keeffe had written her own book of life lessons. Marlene Dietrich wrote such a book (Marlene Dietrich's Abc, and it's fantastic. Sample quotation: "I'd rather go to the hardware store than the opera. And I like the opera."
October 27, 2012
I read this book in order to learn more about Georgia O'Keeffe and to participate in a museum book club event. While I am happy to learn more about O'Keeffe, about her life, her opinions, and especially her work, I found this book very skimpy in all those areas. Instead, Karbo fills us in on cutesy stuff about life as a woman dealing with overbearing men, about less than supportive parents, about all varieties of current and discredited pop-psychology, about the advantage of having your mother think you are ugly, and worst of all, way too much information about the author. I'm sure she's a fine person and a good friend, but this book should not be about her and her too silly ideas about men, apps, disco, cooking, beauty tips, rants about the ills of life, and so on. At least she had the sense to be a bit humbled before the NOKE (Noted O'Keeffe Expert) whom she interviewed prior to reading said expert's apparently seminal book. (Don't researchers read first and then ask?) If her editor had done her job, this book would have turned into a lengthy magazine article, apt for a general reader who knew almost nothing about O'Keeffe. One could only wish her editor had done that work.
April 30, 2025
What an amazing woman…
February 4, 2012
This is an entertaining book written with wit in Karbo’s unique style. She doesn’t write the traditional biography, but talks about Georgia O’Keefe’s life and what she did in terms of today’s culture. Her tone is conversational and funny.
It fascinates me that O’Keefe paid absolutely NO attention to clothing fashion or convention. She wore no makeup and sewed her own long black sheath-like dresses. She pulled her dark hair straight back from her face and most often wore it in a bun. Can you imagine the extra time in life (not to mention ‘money’) that just giving up all these personal fashion concerns would give you? No clothes shopping, no hair products, no changing of outfits numerous times before settling on something passable, .... However, this did not stop her from having men in her life; she ended up marrying the much older Steiglitz, the well-known photographer and art collector who is considered responsible for elevating photography to an art form. Kicking off her star were the nude photographs he took of her in the beginning of their love affair which he then displayed in a showing at his gallery. Steiglitz was a master at orchestrating her successful career.
I also found it interesting that a young man ended up in O’Keefe’s orbit when she was in older age (85 years! and she had 13 more lively years to go before she died at 98)) in much the same way that Theodore White ended up in the life of Pearl Buck. He introduced her to pottery which she could do when her eyesight diminished and even helped her with a book. Karbo doesn’t tell us much about him, but hmm...
I think I heard somewhere that a paper or a book is good if it makes you want to find out more about what you just read; this book did that for me.
It fascinates me that O’Keefe paid absolutely NO attention to clothing fashion or convention. She wore no makeup and sewed her own long black sheath-like dresses. She pulled her dark hair straight back from her face and most often wore it in a bun. Can you imagine the extra time in life (not to mention ‘money’) that just giving up all these personal fashion concerns would give you? No clothes shopping, no hair products, no changing of outfits numerous times before settling on something passable, .... However, this did not stop her from having men in her life; she ended up marrying the much older Steiglitz, the well-known photographer and art collector who is considered responsible for elevating photography to an art form. Kicking off her star were the nude photographs he took of her in the beginning of their love affair which he then displayed in a showing at his gallery. Steiglitz was a master at orchestrating her successful career.
I also found it interesting that a young man ended up in O’Keefe’s orbit when she was in older age (85 years! and she had 13 more lively years to go before she died at 98)) in much the same way that Theodore White ended up in the life of Pearl Buck. He introduced her to pottery which she could do when her eyesight diminished and even helped her with a book. Karbo doesn’t tell us much about him, but hmm...
I think I heard somewhere that a paper or a book is good if it makes you want to find out more about what you just read; this book did that for me.
April 20, 2015
I'm not going to be able to finish this one. The author's opinions and personal experiences are too much for me. I tried to gloss over the initial autobiographical tidbits and even the author's opinions on that obnoxious buzzword, free-range parenting. The last straw was when she bragged about meeting her significant other on EverQuest and then proceeded to intimate that online gaming is the one and only way to get to know potential mates, now that writing letters and even sending email have pretty much flown by the wayside. Wait, WHAT??? I'm reading about EverQuest in a Georgia O'Keeffe biography? I dislike when a person's writing about someone else is really just a cover for them to talk about themselves. Someone please suggest a better O'Keeffe biography for me.
August 16, 2018
I read a lot of non-fiction, a lot of serious non-fiction--this is not that book...and how refreshing! Although the facts are a' plenty, I don't recommend this as your sole biography of Georgia O'Keeffe because it's part author memoir. But what I do recommend it as (besides a really fun, chatty read that will hit all the high points of Georgia's life and some of her art) is an example of the answer to: How did Georgia affect the author's life? This book will give you an example to answer:How does she affect yours?
As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing that I can retain after learning about one of our foremothers is to apply her life lessons to mine; her strong characteristics to my own; I want her to be part role model, part inspiration. The facts of her life are important, of course, but if I can't apply them they are just more trivia in my head. With only facts I can give a lecture, but with facts that tie into my own life I can have a conversation. Karbo shows how that is done by sharing her own side of that conversation. (If you like the conversational style of The History Chicks podcast, you'll enjoy this book.)
As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing that I can retain after learning about one of our foremothers is to apply her life lessons to mine; her strong characteristics to my own; I want her to be part role model, part inspiration. The facts of her life are important, of course, but if I can't apply them they are just more trivia in my head. With only facts I can give a lecture, but with facts that tie into my own life I can have a conversation. Karbo shows how that is done by sharing her own side of that conversation. (If you like the conversational style of The History Chicks podcast, you'll enjoy this book.)
July 19, 2018
so many good art books in the world. skip this one unless you're just looking for fluff that doesn't seem realistically related to georgia o'keeffe in any shape or form.
November 19, 2017
i had to read this for a class and i would like the time i spent reading it refunded, please and thank you.
February 25, 2014
While I do have an art history degree I don't read a lot of art history books since the text book days but this is an art history meets pop culture meets memoir meets humor book all rolled up in one and I approve. I couldn't put it down and couldn't wait to read more when I had to put it down. This book was reviewed in a local paper and clipped the article and put in a pile: to read later. And one day recently ordered all the books I meant to read from the library. Many I have returned briskly. I hadn't even realized who the author was and a local Portlander until I started to read. I stopped to look at the author photo and bio after I laughed again and wanted to know who this funny lady is. I'm definitely going to check out her other two famous women books about Kate Hepburn and Coco Chanel. The Georgia. O'Keeffe came third.
I've never been super drawn to O'Keeffe but I think what sold me on this book was the second title: Lessons on the Art of Living. I've made my life as an artist and as I read this book I found myself feeling a kin to Georgia. I grew up in the Midwest, had loving but hands-off upbringing that allowed me a lot of time to explore and play and grow on my own. I also tend to work hard but then as Karbo describes Georgia can be proto slacker for days and then "work her ass off". I liked seeing so many similarities to my own life and hers. I enjoyed Karbo's own opinions and storyline and modern comparisons thrown in. The book helps put the time period in context and all the relationship stuff with Georgia and Stieglitz and his art connections and their connections was also interesting to me. I think in 10 years the book will feel dated as its loaded with current pop culture funnies. But it also made it a great read now. Thanks for the great book!
I've never been super drawn to O'Keeffe but I think what sold me on this book was the second title: Lessons on the Art of Living. I've made my life as an artist and as I read this book I found myself feeling a kin to Georgia. I grew up in the Midwest, had loving but hands-off upbringing that allowed me a lot of time to explore and play and grow on my own. I also tend to work hard but then as Karbo describes Georgia can be proto slacker for days and then "work her ass off". I liked seeing so many similarities to my own life and hers. I enjoyed Karbo's own opinions and storyline and modern comparisons thrown in. The book helps put the time period in context and all the relationship stuff with Georgia and Stieglitz and his art connections and their connections was also interesting to me. I think in 10 years the book will feel dated as its loaded with current pop culture funnies. But it also made it a great read now. Thanks for the great book!
September 1, 2015
Whoever thought that reading a biography could be such PuredeeLight?!! Okay, for those of us with Insatiable Curiosity (bordering on the Kipling 'Elephant's Child' kind), ALL biographies portend to be entertaining in some way. I'm dubbing Karbo the 'Dave Barry' of biography and now am scrambling to find all of her books,or at the very least, all her "kick-ass women" trilogy (as she calls them) to devour (metaphorically speaking, of course).
I confess, I'm one of those who savors EVERY aspect of a book. Silly, but I love the SIZE of this book (7.6 x 5.6), the weight of the paper, the fonts used, the use of colored type indicating the chapter segments, the full color images of one of Okeeffe's works at the beginning of each chapter (how to choose from the 2,045 of her lifetime output?), and all the delightful footnotes (many of which were no more than parenthetical remarks). Reading this book was akin to having a chat over lunch with the author, at once exploring and celebrating a most remarkable life and musing about our own lives and choices. Delectable.
Having said all that, I'm not sure that this book would strike the same chord with other women I know and respect. There is the occasional descriptively-used expletive, which neatly drives home the author's observations. It's a quick read about a voluminous life. The book is more of a 'whet-the-appetite' than a 'full-course-dinner' about the subject of the work. There is plenty written about Georgia O'Keeffe and Karbo includes this link to a full bibliography: www.okeeffemuseum.org . In addition, she shares her personal favorites in her Acknowledgments.
I confess, I'm one of those who savors EVERY aspect of a book. Silly, but I love the SIZE of this book (7.6 x 5.6), the weight of the paper, the fonts used, the use of colored type indicating the chapter segments, the full color images of one of Okeeffe's works at the beginning of each chapter (how to choose from the 2,045 of her lifetime output?), and all the delightful footnotes (many of which were no more than parenthetical remarks). Reading this book was akin to having a chat over lunch with the author, at once exploring and celebrating a most remarkable life and musing about our own lives and choices. Delectable.
Having said all that, I'm not sure that this book would strike the same chord with other women I know and respect. There is the occasional descriptively-used expletive, which neatly drives home the author's observations. It's a quick read about a voluminous life. The book is more of a 'whet-the-appetite' than a 'full-course-dinner' about the subject of the work. There is plenty written about Georgia O'Keeffe and Karbo includes this link to a full bibliography: www.okeeffemuseum.org . In addition, she shares her personal favorites in her Acknowledgments.
July 25, 2023
How Georgia Became O'Keeffe: Lessons On The Art Of Living is part biography, part entertaining life-lessons. Karen Karbo's writing style is quirky, she's your fun friend talking to you over a glass of wine and making you laugh. The "lessons" are from Karbo's own life, deftly presented as personal commentary, including witty asides (footnotes).
I highly recommend How Georgia Became O'Keeffe for the story of the artist who became a towering icon of the art world, a woman of passion and self-discipline who succeeded in being fully herself in an era when women were to be seen but not heard. O'Keeffe would do well as a role model for any creative person, but especially for anyone who who understands that the most valuable and powerful possession she possesses is her own Self.
I highly recommend How Georgia Became O'Keeffe for the story of the artist who became a towering icon of the art world, a woman of passion and self-discipline who succeeded in being fully herself in an era when women were to be seen but not heard. O'Keeffe would do well as a role model for any creative person, but especially for anyone who who understands that the most valuable and powerful possession she possesses is her own Self.
December 22, 2011
In the eighties I considered Georgia O'Keeffe the closet I would come to having a mentor. I was a writer she was an artist in her nineties. What I saw in her work was freedom, a freedom that existed for women if they jumped into life with both feet. I saw strength to strike out on one's own. I only read one biography and found it dull. Mostly I relied on her art: the bones, flowers, and skyscrapers. When I heard an interview with Karen Karbo, I decided maybe I'd see what she had to say about O'Keeffe. I'm so glad I did. This beautiful book is a celebration of art, women, and creativity. While the book gave me a new take on O'Keeffe, it also made me want to create art, to step away and give myself a place. Loved this book and carried it with me every where I went. I am sad to say I've finished reading it. What a extraordinary talented writer. Thank you for this book!
April 21, 2012
"There is a bit of a bitch in every good cook" - Georgia O'Keefe
"A marriage is a civilization, the couple at the ceter of it, king and queen. When it falls apart, the entire population suffers."
I love the way this author writes. This isn't just a dry biography. The author artfully weaves in lessons/ stories from her own life, while giving us more than a glimpse into Georgia's complicated life. This really is a telling of Georgia's life in the context of imparting lessons from her life - and those lessons stand the test of time. My take away from this book - be who you are and be interested/ passionate about something (it makes you a more intrigueing person, worth getting to know). This author has also written books about Coco Chanel and Katherine Hepburn - and I'll definitely be adding those to my reading list!
"A marriage is a civilization, the couple at the ceter of it, king and queen. When it falls apart, the entire population suffers."
I love the way this author writes. This isn't just a dry biography. The author artfully weaves in lessons/ stories from her own life, while giving us more than a glimpse into Georgia's complicated life. This really is a telling of Georgia's life in the context of imparting lessons from her life - and those lessons stand the test of time. My take away from this book - be who you are and be interested/ passionate about something (it makes you a more intrigueing person, worth getting to know). This author has also written books about Coco Chanel and Katherine Hepburn - and I'll definitely be adding those to my reading list!
June 21, 2012
I really enjoyed this light-hearted yet factual account of Georgia O'Keeffe's life and art.
The author sets her book apart from the myriad other O'Keeffe bios by getting to the heart of what many readers are after--what was Georgia O'Keeffe really like--without making it a weighty dissection.
I personally loved the footnotes scattered about the pages, for they made the book seem like a fun conversation.
The author sets her book apart from the myriad other O'Keeffe bios by getting to the heart of what many readers are after--what was Georgia O'Keeffe really like--without making it a weighty dissection.
I personally loved the footnotes scattered about the pages, for they made the book seem like a fun conversation.
March 16, 2016
Now I see why others have raved so much about this story. It’s the life of artist Georgia O’Keeffe, but you won’t find this story in the encyclopedia. It’s a tale beautifully, cleverly, wisely told with hundreds of little personal asides and footnotes. I think you will love it. I’m pretty sure you will.
October 17, 2014
Karen Karbo is a true, contemporary story teller. In this telling of Georgia O'Keeffe's life and genius, Karbo can't help but interject her own hilarious, sharp-witted opinions along the way. In this case that's a good thing.
August 1, 2012
I loved this! So irreverant and an entertaining read. I am dying to read her books about Hepburn and Chanel
August 3, 2021
Very pleasant read. It felt as if the author sat with you in a coffee shop and just told you about O'Keeffe. Perfect as an introduction to the life of this incredible artist.
March 18, 2024
I’ll admit that my 5-star rating is partially due to the sentimental value of this book for me
Imagine being in your early 30s, taking a solo road trip across the country and stopping off in Santa Fe for a few days. It’s your first time in The Land of Enchantment so you naturally do what makes you comfortable: grab a coffee then browse the shelves of a local second-hand bookstore
There are a plethora of Georgia O’Keeffe books because after all, she is practically synonymous with Santa Fe, a treasured icon with her very own museum just down the street
You’re attracted to the giant colorful poppy on the cover of How Georgia Became O’Keeffe and after skimming through a few pages, the writer’s style and conversational tone makes you feel like you’re chatting with a friend
The next thing you know, you’re cozied up with said book in your quaint hotel room at Hotel St. Francis, eating green chili chocolate and finding yourself relating to O’Keefe’s humble beginnings, entranced by all the juicy drama surrounding her marriage to Alfred Stieglitz, and rooting for Georgia as she follows her artsy lil heart to New Mexico
I am forever a fan of Georgia O’Keefe, Santa Fe, and books as souvenirs
Imagine being in your early 30s, taking a solo road trip across the country and stopping off in Santa Fe for a few days. It’s your first time in The Land of Enchantment so you naturally do what makes you comfortable: grab a coffee then browse the shelves of a local second-hand bookstore
There are a plethora of Georgia O’Keeffe books because after all, she is practically synonymous with Santa Fe, a treasured icon with her very own museum just down the street
You’re attracted to the giant colorful poppy on the cover of How Georgia Became O’Keeffe and after skimming through a few pages, the writer’s style and conversational tone makes you feel like you’re chatting with a friend
The next thing you know, you’re cozied up with said book in your quaint hotel room at Hotel St. Francis, eating green chili chocolate and finding yourself relating to O’Keefe’s humble beginnings, entranced by all the juicy drama surrounding her marriage to Alfred Stieglitz, and rooting for Georgia as she follows her artsy lil heart to New Mexico
I am forever a fan of Georgia O’Keefe, Santa Fe, and books as souvenirs
April 23, 2020
Cheeky. I want to like the author. Her voice as a writer may be unique, but her voice as a person isn’t. She reminds me of me. I often think I’m hilarious. I keep it in check. It’s unusual to read a book with the author sitting beside you, wisecracking. Seven sentences in, with no mention of the purpose and central figure of the book. That’s because the author busies herself, elbowing her subject aside in favor of herself. I learned a thing or two about Georgia O’Keeffe. I believe that many artists insist that the work is who they are, rather than a narrative describing their sartorial choices, and food preferences. I read this on my iPad, which was helpful, as I could switch to searches for her art, and Stiegler’s art and photos of people and places.
We read this for book group, which will meet on Zoom during the pandemic.
The author is funny. Georgia O’Keeffe is brilliant. She wouldn’t have liked me much, I don’t think, and I don’t think she would have liked the author much, either.
We read this for book group, which will meet on Zoom during the pandemic.
The author is funny. Georgia O’Keeffe is brilliant. She wouldn’t have liked me much, I don’t think, and I don’t think she would have liked the author much, either.
May 30, 2017
This is a hard one to review. On the one hand, I loved the idea of mixing a biography with lessons you can apply to your own life. O'Keeffe is a great person to draw life lessons from, and Karbo does a good job of pointing out how O'Keeffe is a good role model.
It's also a nicely condensed biography -- she covers O'Keeffe's life but not in excruciating details, so it's good for those who don't enjoy exhaustingly long non-fiction biographies. (Although I did notice a few errors).
But on the other hand, Karbo also makes it a memoir of her own experiences researching O'Keeffe's life and writing this book. While her style is often funny, sometimes the anecdotes seems irrelevant or too digressionary. It wasn't always easy to see where she was going with some stories.
The attempt to do three things in one book -- biography, self-help and memoir -- might have been too much here. She might have been better off just sticking to two out of three.
It's also a nicely condensed biography -- she covers O'Keeffe's life but not in excruciating details, so it's good for those who don't enjoy exhaustingly long non-fiction biographies. (Although I did notice a few errors).
But on the other hand, Karbo also makes it a memoir of her own experiences researching O'Keeffe's life and writing this book. While her style is often funny, sometimes the anecdotes seems irrelevant or too digressionary. It wasn't always easy to see where she was going with some stories.
The attempt to do three things in one book -- biography, self-help and memoir -- might have been too much here. She might have been better off just sticking to two out of three.
March 14, 2018
Note that Karbo is not your ordinary biographer. She delves into Georgia O'Keeffe's life because she wants to learn from her ("lessons on the art of living"!) and she does not pretend much less try to be unbiased, objective, or removed. And thus she has multiple interjections of asides (humorously marked as footnotes at times), uses her own first person, and draws her own conclusions about what O'Keeffe, without meaning to at all, could teach us all. I frankly relished it. The book was light, refreshing and yet also inspiring. Karbo's admiration for the great artist is hard to resist and the lessons she draws from the woman and legend are thought-provoking and often inspiring. Above all, Karbo draws O'Keeffe as a woman who set her own rules almost always and through that lived long, loved well enough, and never lost her creative force.
April 8, 2018
Written in a very casual, personal style, and with humor and personal asides, this books makes for a compelling read apart from the usual scholarly work on a noted artist. I'm going to be seeking out her other books on Chanel and Hepburn and the memoir of her father's last days. Who thought reading about Georgia O'Keeffe could be amusing? The author raises the usual questions of any woman in the spotlight or who achieves fame through her creativity. What is sacrificed? Family? Children? How important is it to keep your own sense of self (very, according to Karbo.) And why do so many attach themselves to negative men needing control and power and their own sense of self shored up? It seems, ultimately, most women leave this aside and do focus on their own lives and work--for better or worse.
August 14, 2021
This is not your typical biography, but I found it a compelling read about an artist that I did not know much about. I am sure it would offend many purists, as there is quite a bit of author commentary and opinion thrown in. And as others have noted in their reviews, it does seem as if the author is on her own journey of story-telling her own life as well (which I didn't find as distracting as some seemed too---and frankly she is sometimes hilarious!). But I learned some things and have a much clearer idea of Georgia O'Keeffe as a ground-breaking artist---and as a woman (and human) coming of age in the early part of the 20th century. Honestly, this made me want to read more about her--a very good thing!
March 19, 2018
I'm one of the lifetime fan girls of all things O'Keefe, having come of age in the 70's and living outside NYC it was part of my rite of passage to spend hours trekking around to find the places, the Art, the mystique that was available to me with the purchase of a bus ticket.
This little book took me back to those days and I enjoyed very much. Sure its not going to win any book awards, but it was fun and easy to read, and I thought the footnotes were cool. I did not have to read this book for a book club, or an assignment, I heard about the author's name and sought out her work at local library. I will be looking for her other books next.
This little book took me back to those days and I enjoyed very much. Sure its not going to win any book awards, but it was fun and easy to read, and I thought the footnotes were cool. I did not have to read this book for a book club, or an assignment, I heard about the author's name and sought out her work at local library. I will be looking for her other books next.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews