Introduction

From the author of Strapless and Guest of Honor, a book about a little-known road trip Andy Warhol took from New York to LA in 1963, and how that journey—and the numerous artists and celebrities he encountered—profoundly influenced his life and art.

In 1963, up-and-coming artist Andy Warhol took a road trip across America. What began as a madcap, drug-fueled romp became a journey that took Warhol on a kaleidoscopic adventure from New York City, across the vast American heartland, all the way to Hollywood and back.

With locations ranging from a Texas panhandle truck stop to a Beverly Hills mansion, from the beaches of Santa Monica to a Photomat booth in Albuquerque, The Trip captures Warhol’s interactions with Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, Marcel Duchamp, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra. Along the way he also met rednecks, beach bums, underground filmmakers, artists, poets, socialites, and newly minted hippies, and they each left an indelible mark on his psyche.

In The Trip, Andy Warhol’s speeding Ford Falcon is our time machine, transporting us from the last vestiges of the sleepy Eisenhower epoch to the true beginning of the explosive, exciting ’60s. Through in-depth, original research, Deborah Davis sheds new light on one of the most enduring figures in the art world and captures a fascinating moment in 1960s America—with Warhol at its center.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

September 24, 2012
I have always been fascinated by Andy Warhol, the artist, filmmaker, writer, aphorist, media mogul, trendsetter, and visionary who remains one of the most enduring talents of the twentieth century and, somehow, one of the hottest of the twenty-first. Andy would be amused—although probably not at all surprised—to see that the paintings critics considered a joke in 1963, including his controversial Campbell’s Soup cans, command hundreds of millions of dollars today; that an entire museum is dedicated to preserving his life and works; that Warhol exhibitions are in constant circulation; that his counterculture movies laid the groundwork for the mainstream, billion-dollar industry known today as independent film; that he is credited with having invented the “selfie”; and that fans, including artists and writers, view “Saint Andy” as their muse. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

What made the early 1960s such an exciting and storied time?

How did Andy Warhol change in the course of his cross-country road trip? How did America change, and why? Did the Kennedy assassination contribute to that change?

Who did you like better? The Andy you met at the beginning of the story, or the icon he became at the end?

Did you learn anything about Andy that surprised you?

Warhol has been called the most influential and recognizable artist of all time. Why? Do you agree?

Artists, writers, filmmakers, actors...everyone seemed so colorful in the 1960s. How does that period differ from today?

Is a Campbell's Soup painting a work of art? Was POP a legitimate art movement?

Is it my imagination, or did people have more fun in the 1960s?

Have you ever driven cross-country? What can road trips teach us? Are they always transformative in one way or another?

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by piper0922 (see profile) 05/17/16

Weblinks

»	Author's web site
»	Publisher's Book Info
»	Washington Post Review
»	Boston Globe Review
»	The Star Review
»	ArtNet Review
»	Warhol at Christie's review

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