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Anna

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Anna

By: Amy Odell
Narrated by: Jennifer Woodward
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About this listen

This definitive biography of Anna Wintour chronicles the steep climb of an ambitious young woman who would, with singular and legendary focus, become the most powerful woman in media.

As a child, Anna Wintour was a tomboy with no apparent interest in clothing but, seduced by the miniskirts and bob haircuts of swinging 1960s London, she grew into a fashion-obsessed teenager. Her father, the influential editor of the Evening Standard, loomed large in her life, and once he decided she should become editor in chief of Vogue, she never looked back.

Impatient to start her career, she left high school and got a job at a fashionable boutique in London - an experience that would be the first of many defeats. Undeterred, she found work in the competitive world of magazines, eventually moving to New York. Before long, Anna's journey to Vogue became a battle to ascend, no matter who or what stood in her way. Once she was crowned editor in chief - in one of the stormiest transitions in fashion magazine history - she continued the fight to retain her enviable position, ultimately rising to dominate all of Condé Nast.

Based on extensive interviews with Anna Wintour's closest friends and collaborators, including some of the biggest names in fashion, journalist Amy Odell has crafted the most revealing portrait of Wintour ever published. Weaving Anna's personal story into a larger narrative about the hierarchical dynamics of the fashion industry and the complex world of Condé Nast, Anna charts the relentless ambition of the woman who would become an icon.

“Odell takes her readers behind Wintour's iconic bob and sunglasses in this deeply researched account” SARA GAY FORDEN

©2022 Amy Odell (P)2022 W F Howes
Art & Literature Entertainment & Celebrities Journalists, Editors & Publishers Celebrity England

Critic Reviews

“Odell takes her readers behind Wintour's iconic bob and sunglasses in this deeply researched account.” (Sara Gay Forden)

All stars
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Very interesting, loved learning about Anna's career and life. Narrator does a terrible English accent impression of Anna which was hard to listen to multiple times in the book.

Interesting and insightful

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I really enjoyed the overview that this book gave of Anna’s life. The first chapters about her younger years and how she got to Vogue were particularly good.

After that it tapers off a bit. It is a biography (rather than memoir) so maybe it is to be expected that there are no real secrets or wow moments from the more modern times.

Still an enjoyable listen and will give insight to the life of Anna.

I recommend also giving Grace Coddington’s memoir a look.

Enjoyable but lacking nitty gritty

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struggled to finish this title. Overall an interesting tale, but nothing that keeps you engaged.

Struggled

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It was a well written and insightful book. Anna clearly has an amazing work ethic and is clever but it’s a bloody shallow world and she’s certainly not someone that sounds like she’d be fun to spend time with. I would have been fired within the week!!

Well written but…

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Comprehensive biography of an interesting woman. Anyone interested in fashion will enjoy this.

The narration however was so frustrating - the most irritating attempt to simulate Anna’s accent and compete mangling of the pronunciation of many designers names.

Comprehensive biography, narration let’s it down

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