Obsession: The Lives and Times of Calvin Klein

Rating:
Summary: Dishy and funny
Review: A fascinating look into the nooks and cranies of the man, his associates and his world. A fun and fast read.

Rating:
Summary: An Exhaustively Researched Biography with Little Insight
Review: If I could only use two words to describe this biography they would be: exhaustingly long. This biography is wonderful: intricately researched, you can tell that the authors are immersed in their subject, and the authors do a fine job of balancing information on Klein's different facets: both as a man (and there's a lot of facts and information to support the notion that Klein is a confused homosexual, had a sham marriage (which the authors failed to call by its name), is a wonderful father, a horrible perfectionist and occasionally abusive boss) and as a designer and business tycoon. In the same way, they are careful to include as much information on Klein's personal life as they do of his now almost mythical business deals that (in an odd way reminiscent of Barbra Streisand's demand for "complete artistic control" in her first record contract with Columbia) demanded complete creative control. However, it is a telling detail that Sharon Churcher and Steven Gaines are at their best when they are describing, in intricate detail, the launches of different Klein products, including a behind-the scenes look at the promotional campaigns that went along with them- and except for a couple of illuminating personal anecdotes, these are the best parts of the at times overly-long book. It is telling because although these descriptions are fun and detailed, they are also clearly "the sort of minutiae culled from the hundreds of puff pieces written about Mr. Klein in glossy magazines." The descriptions of the decors of his different residences also clearly come from decoration magazines. All this excessive information makes the book, as the New York Times book review said "exhaustive...to read." The authors's real problem is that ocasionally they get lost in all the background information they present. This constant barrage of information can confuse and burden the reader, and it often turns out that all the information given is for a character of only peripheral importance in the story. Many of the authors' sources, including anonymous male prostitutes, seem highly suspect. I think that Calvin Klein's anxious desire to prevent the book from ever seeing the light of day may have fueled the publicity and the hype around it more than its rather tepid and suspect allegations. In the end, the portrait of this fascinating man remains incomplete in large part because of the book's rather odd final chapter, which focuses not on Klein but on his latest wife (from which he is now divorced, I believe) Kelly Rector. And although the authors, as the New York Times unflatteringly put it: "raid...his life...publish...rumor and innuendo and speculation over his marriages", they seem oddly reluctant to confront the truth about an aspect of their subject that they readily document: that he is quite obviously gay.

Rating:
Summary: An Exhaustively Researched Biography with Little Insight
Review: It's such a shame when writers decide to slander/libel/sling mug at their subjects rather than provide the reader with an objective chronology and review of a celebrity's life. I guess it makes the book "juicier" and more "saleable" to some non-discerning readers. But this is nothing better than one of those groery-store tabloids.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written !
Review: It's such a shame when writers decide to slander/libel/sling mug at their subjects rather than provide the reader with an objective chronology and review of a celebrity's life. I guess it makes the book "juicier" and more "saleable" to some non-discerning readers. But this is nothing better than one of those groery-store tabloids.

Rating:
Summary: mildly amusing
Review: Let's face it, the term "fashion genius" is a contradiction in terms; an oxymoron. But this book is fun in that it has juicey gossip, and shows how much luck was involved in this success story.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting profile of the life of a closeted homosexual
Review: This book truly shows the life of a tormented closet queen. In spite of his constant self hatred, Calvin Klein is one of the top fashion designers of our day. The book tells of his early years in the Bronx, through his sham marriage to his party boy days in Fire Island and Studio 54. I found the wild sex and anonymous sex in backrooms to be intriguing. "The" Calvin Klein would pull up in a limo to a sleezy red light gay club and party in the "dungeon" with boy toys. The book is well written and the best part may be reading about his rise as a big designer after so many rejections. Light, summer-type reading. One funny part that stands out: before the ubiquitous Calvin underwear, Calvin was wearing a prototype on a plane trip. When he got out of his seat, someone noticed the name "Calvin Klein" all around the underwear band and later commented to friends about Calvin's "monogrammed" underwear! Also, his daughter would comment later about it being very weird seeing her father's name enscribed on her boyfriends' underwear

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This was a fascinating book in how complete and in-depth is was. I got to understand the entire fashion and advertising industry, and the chapters about perfumes and cosmetics were terrific. The personal stuff about Calvin Klein was a little less amusing, but the chapter on his daughter's kidnapping was better than in any suspense book I ever read. No wonder why Klein tried to stop this book.

Rating:
Summary: Dynamite, in depth, more than you wanted to know!
Review: Yikes! No wonder why Calvin Klein tried to stop this book, it doesn't let up. The best parts were the kidnapping chapters and all the business stuff. I felt like I was inside the fashion industry--and didn't like it. This book isn't for the squeamish.