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Anna

By: Amy Odell
Narrated by: Jennifer Woodward
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Publisher's Summary

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.

©2022 Amy Odell (P)2022 W F Howes

Critic Reviews

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

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  • 30-05-2022

Enjoyable but lacking nitty gritty

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.

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3 people found this helpful

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Perfect

I can't fault this book at all, except to say I wish it had been a few hours longer. That's not to say it wasn't thorough, but that it was so enjoyable!

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Meh

The only interesting aspect was the politically correct retelling (perhaps admonishment) of moments when AW seemed to truly speak her mind and which are already well-documented. Some glaringly awful pronunciation: Who is ‘Frito’ Kahlo?

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Dull and disappointing

A very uninteresting book. Took me a long time to finish it as was really quite boring. Too many quotes from other people and more or less all about Vogue not about Anna herself.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

boring, repetitive and slow.

it seemed every chapter was the same detailed, slow burn and uninteresting material. didn't finish it and gave up after three quarters. monotonous and energy sapping voice performance

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Comprehensive biography, narration let’s it down

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.

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Brilliant and balanced

This book was a wonderful listen and appears to be well researched and sourced. Offering the story of Anna Winter in a balanced and real way, telling all sides of her story including the negative and positive with equal honesty.
Highly recommend regardless of interest or understanding of fashion, this book is so much more than a story of a woman in fashion.

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Interesting and insightful

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.

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Well written but…

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!!

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Struggled

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

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