Lee Miller

A Life

De: Carolyn Burke

Narrado por: Ann Richardson

A trenchant yet sympathetic portrait of Lee Miller, one of the iconic faces and careers of the 20th century.

Carolyn Burke reveals Miller as a multifaceted woman: both model and photographer, muse and reporter, sexual adventurer and mother, and, in later years, gourmet cook - the last of the many dramatic transformations she underwent during her lifetime. A sleek blond bombshell, Miller was part of a glamorous circle in New York and Paris in the 1920s and 1930s as a leading Vogue model, close to Edward Steichen, Charlie Chaplin, Jean Cocteau, and Pablo Picasso. Then, during World War II, she became a war correspondent - one of the first women to do so - shooting harrowing images of a devastated Europe, entering Dachau with the Allied troops, posing in Hitler’s bathtub.

Burke examines Miller’s troubled personal life, from the unsettling photo sessions during which Miller, both as a child and as a young woman, posed nude for her father, to her crucial affair with artist-photographer Man Ray, to her unconventional marriages. And through Miller’s body of work, Burke explores the photographer’s journey from object to subject; her eye for form, pattern, and light; and the powerful emotion behind each of her images.

A lush story of art and beauty, sex and power, Modernism and Surrealism, independence and collaboration, Lee Miller: A Life is an astute study of a fascinating, yet enigmatic, cultural figure.

This program includes a downloadable PDF that contains Lee Miller’s recipes for a dinner party, as assembled by Carolyn Burke.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2005 Carolyn Burke (P)2021 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Illuminating... As a disciple of Alfred Steichen and devotee and lover of Man Ray in Paris, [Miller] played the ingénue a little but was more knowing than all that; indeed, she recalled, she was a bit of a fiend. Ray came eventually to regard her as a threat, though it was likely for the ever-deepening quality of her work as a photographer. [She] had the kind of life that the present-day bohemian can only aspire to; yet Miller fully came into her own as a combat correspondent (for Vogue) in Europe during WWII... Burke’s graceful biography restores Miller to attention; students of art photography, in particular, will want a look.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Compelling, riveting... It seems fitting that Carolyn Burke, whose first biography corrected history’s error of undervaluing the avant-garde poet and artist Mina Loy, has written Lee Miller: A Life. [Miller is] a forgotten visionary photographer who was muse and lover to some of the most influential artists of the early 20th century, as well as one of the few women able to transcend this role and become an artistic force in her own right... The photograph that may give the truest glimpse into Miller’s nature is a portrait shot in Hitler’s bathtub... A woman caught between horror and beauty, between being seen and being the seer.” (New York Times Book Review)

“[Miller’s photographs] are hard to forget. Until relatively recently, however, Miller’s fame, as a flawless beauty, photographic collaborator and model, overshadowed her artistic legacy. This first full-length biography...shows how Miller’s complex nature contributed to this neglect... The biography truly comes to life when [Miller] became a war correspondent... Carolyn Burke’s sympathetic tribute sheds further light on the lives of this highly original, often misunderstood woman.” (The Economist)

A Unique and Beautiful Person

Carolyn Burke’s writing - evocative, comprehensive, generous - captured and held my attention.
I heard Burke speak about Miller in Paris years ago, just after the publication of her book. I immediately purchased and read the book. Listening to it read by Ann Richardson, however, was an even more engaging experience of Miller’s life.
My only qualm about recommending Richardson’s performance is her cringeworthy mangling of many French words and titles. But if the listener can overlook this flaw - or is completely ignorant of proper French pronunciation - I cannot withhold my enthusiastic recommendation.
Enjoy!

Couldn’t finish

I really wanted to like this book. I struggled to listen to it and finally gave up. The reading feels like some is being forced to read a text book and the story is a minute by minute description of someone’s life.