11 February 2015

Review #144: Being Audrey Hepburn by Mitchell Kriegman



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“No matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself.”
----Audrey Hepburn

Mitchell Kriegman, an American filmmaker cum writer, penned his tribute to the America's "fair lady", Audrey Hepburn with his new novel, Being Audrey Hepburn . It centers around Hepburn's one of the most die-hard fans, Lisbeth, who channels Hepburn's trademark and sophisticated grace and charm as she explores the world of glitz and glamor in NYC.

Synopsis:
Lisbeth comes from a broken home in the land of tube tops, heavy eyeliner, frosted lip-gloss, juiceheads, hoop earrings and “the shore.” She has a circle of friends who have dedicated their teenage lives to relieve the world of all its alcohol one drink at a time.
Obsessed with everything Audrey Hepburn, Lisbeth is transformed when she secretly tries on Audrey’s iconic Givenchy. She becomes who she wants to be by pretending to be somebody she’s not and living among the young and privileged Manhattan elite. Soon she’s faced with choices that she would never imagine making – between who she’s become and who she once was.



Lisbeth is 19 year old and like every other teenager, she too is confused with her career choices. Her best friend and a wanna-be fashion designer, Jess works at the Met for a part-time job. And in one such of regular shifts, she finds Hepburn's legendary LBD that was seen worn by her in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. Now Lisbeth is a die-hard fan of Hepburn and when her friend calls her on a special evening to try on the dress, Lisbeth enters into a world which no regular teenager can ever happen to be in there. From pop-stars to wealthy multimillionaire to world famous designers to the daddys of the tinsel town, everyone soon became a phone call away in Lisbeth's fake glamorous world.

Note to the author: Sir, please make a movie on this book, not because it has lot of fashion and glamor, instead because of your touch to Audrey's life and how you once again made her alive from the very pages of this book.

From the very beginning of the book, the author's evocative narrative style entranced me and it is really astounding to see how the author channeled himself into a 19year old teenager's voice completely. Moreover, his narrative style is layered with funny anecdotes that will sometimes make you go ROFL. Also he unwrapped the adventures of Lisbeth in the glitzy world of glamor in a striking yet thoughtful way. He in fact addressed the issues faced by a regular teenager and how family drama can sometimes create a lot of havoc in their social lives, also how a teenager behaves in such crisis period in their lives.

Jersey girl's dreams to make it big in the NYC. I bet every American girl cherishes a dream like that! Lisbeth was just being Audrey when a golden opportunity struck her on the Met gala night. The author's characterization of Lisbeth is very real. Lisbeth is someone who will strike you as confused in the begining, and then someone who is head-first determined to reach her goals, to someone who can forgive quite easily unlike any other 19year old! The rest of the characters like Jess and Nan will make you fall for their down-to-earth demeanor. And honestly, Tabitha sounded lot of LiLo, wasting away her stardom and popularity to drugs and alcohol. There is also some elements of mystery added in the plot, which will keep you hooked on it. Although we see the whole story from Lisbeth's eyes, but the author leaves us with enough space to judge it with our own perspective. The way the author intricately layered his whole storyline, it 'll definitely make you feel all the hormones running high in the world of glamor. There is also some romance that will make you feel high with it's effect. Overall, the whole book turned out to be such a fun-ride for me. Not because the characters lacked depth or how I couldn't connect with the emotional element of this book, but because how a 19year old lives the best of her both worlds in the words of Mitchell Kriegman. No Lisbeth is not Miley Cyrus!! And if you want to relive your life wearing that legendary Little Black Dress of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's, go ahead pick a copy of this book for sure.

If Audrey Hepburn was alive, then she must have said, in Holly Golightly's tone, something as:
Darling, this is such an incredible book! You must devour the charm of it.

Verdict: Ahoy! all the Audrey Hepburn fans, Come Aboard! Get Ready to Take a Wild Ride to the Fun Side of Audrey Hepburn. For me, this was an addictive read!

Courtesy: Millions times thanks to the author, Mitchell Kriegman, for giving me an opportunity to read and review his book.
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Author Info:
Mitchell Kriegman is the author of Being Audrey Hepburn, and an upcoming novel due out in late 2015 called Things I Can’t Explain — a modern day sequel to his groundbreaking cult classic 90s Nickelodeon show, Clarissa Explains it All.
Mitchell was also the executive story editor of the original Ren and Stimpy. Rugrats, Doug and Rocko’s Modern Life. He created and won four Emmy’s for his work on other childrens’ classics such as Bear in the Big Blue House, Book of Pooh and It’s a Big Big World. Besides writing original screenplays for Rogue, Universal, Disney, Columbia Pictures and others, his short stories have been published in The New Yorker, the National Lampoon, Glamour, New York Press and Harper’s Bazaar.


Before joining the team of SNL as a filmmaker, performer and writer, Mitchell began his career performing “An Evening of Stories and Tricks You Won’t See Anywhere” and other original performance art at the New York Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, Franklin Furnace and more. His video works are part of The Museum of Broadcasting, Whitney Museum, and London Institute among others.
Visit him here

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