How much of an autobiography should we believe?

Told in the first person, an autobiography is supposed to be a testimonial of the person writing the autobiography. The first-person voice makes the storytelling more compelling, more believable, more real. The autobiographer, as the storyteller, pulls us, the reader, into the story, making us believe that the reality of the autobiographer is the real world. Almost as if compelling us to recognise and accept the autobiographer’s view of the world as our own reality.

This technique is used by fiction writers too. As readers of fiction, we often escape into the fiction-writer’s world, seamlessly, believing the storytelling, the setting, the characters, etc. to be true… at least, for that moment. It’s like experiencing a reverie. However, we come out of this reverie, if not immediately upon closing the book, at least sometime soon afterward. We realise this is not the real world, but a fictional tale told by a person providing us a few moments’, or a few hours’, or a few days’ entertainment.

Of course, we go through our emotions, feeling happy or sad or angry or despair, in agreement with, or in response to, the writer’s treatment of the story and the experiences of the characters in the story. Later, we applaud or challenge or criticise the fiction-writer’s work, reviewing his/her skills as a storyteller, either in absolute terms or in comparison with other works of fiction. But, all through the experience of reading and discussing the work, never do we forget that it is a work of fiction. Anything can happen here. Reality can take its own shape.

But, an autobiography must speak the truth. People, places, dates, events, sequence of events, conversations cannot change to make the storytelling more entertaining, more compelling. The autobiographer is bound by these elements. However, the autobiographer may play with the style of presenting these elements and these facts, and add to them his own inner experiences and emotions as flavours. This basically means the autobiographer cannot make up or fictionalise the narrative according to his/her whims.

Autobiographers rarely ever write their narratives on the spot. They write later, remembering, introspecting, relying on their memories. This is a tricky affair as memories are known to fail. Of course, autobiographers consult various notes, journals and documents before actually constructing their stories, but can these documents be 100% reliable? The emotions experienced instantly, the nuances of the moment are likely to be missing.

Moreover, autobiographers may be, as all human beings are, prone to talking too much about themselves, exaggerating their life stories, self-justifying their actions, presenting their opinions as facts… turning their autobiographies into works of fiction. If the only reliable source of facts in an autobiography is the autobiographer himself/herself, how can the reader, not having first-hand knowledge, verify all the facts of an autobiography? If all this is true, how much of an autobiography should we really believe?

Andy Warhol prince of pop

Besides or in spite of his art, most people probably remember Andy Warhol as the person famous for saying, “In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” For Warhol, his fame was much greater than the fifteen minutes he had proposed for everybody. For him, it had lasted twenty-five years (until his sudden death due to a complication during a routine gall-bladder operation in 1987) – and it continues even today.

I knew very little about Andy Warhol until I read Andy Warhol prince of pop by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. The book is a slim and easy-to-read volume of his biography, describing Warhol’s life (born Andrew Warhola) as the third son of Ruthenian (people from an area near the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe comprising parts of Czechoslovakia, Ukraine and Hungary) parents who migrated to the United States after the First World War and settled down in Pittsburgh.

Warhol’s father, Andrej, was a construction worker who took up odd jobs when he was laid off, but “managed to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads during the toughest years of the Depression.” But it was Warhol’s mother, Julia, who was his greatest encouragement, pampering him through his ill-health during his childhood until his later years, almost till Warhol was 40 years of age, living close to Warhol in New York.

Andy Warhol is inseparable from American Pop Art – an art movement that started in the 1960s and continues today. What made Warhol famous over and above other Pop artists (such as Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wasselmann, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg) was his application of this art form into media such as advertising, design, books, films, TV production and fashion. Besides, when other famous Abstract Expressionist artists of the time (such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko) remained true to their oeuvre, Warhol shamelessly experimented with different media, form and content, extending the boundaries to establish his own style and standards not only on Pop Art, but also on contemporary American culture.

Everybody wanted to be in Andy Warhol’s company – be it in his art, in his films, in his parties, in his studio (The Factory), in his magazine (Interview), and/or be seen with him. That’s probably what Warhol meant by ‘world famous for fifteen minutes’. And, true to his form, he delivered on this promise. For, by 1963, Andy Warhol had achieved fame. He was an American icon.

Decidedly gay, Warhol was successful in winning over both men and women, many of them celebrities in their own right. Yet, many of them turned to him – for memorability. Warhol knew the importance of image-building, creating a memorable image for himself single-handedly. One of his dreams was to become a supermodel, but he did not attain this goal. However, what is of importance (and, perhaps, a learning for us all) is that Andy Warhol was superlatively industrious – he never stopped working, even when he was shopping, partying, or on a holiday. His huge volume of work is a testimony to this fact.

Andy Warhol prince of pop by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan is a quick and enlightening biography of America’s greatest pop artist. The book also contains a Warhol timeline, a list of Warhol’s films and books, a glossary of art terms, notes on quotes and references, and sources of research material on Warhol… making it an interesting mini-compendium on the artist.

[Citation: Andy Warhol prince of pop by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, Laurel-Leaf, 2004.]