Candy’s writing itself was fascinating and I found so many of her quick quips and notes really resonated with me. I just wish that the editor had done more to contextualize the writings or given a fuller history of Candy’s life. I found myself having to research on my own as I was reading to keep up. Even just having a timeline of Candy’s life would have been really useful. I did really enjoy it though, it was so thrilling to be able to read about Candy in her own words!

andy Darling was one of the early pioneers of the Trans community and risked even more than trans people risk today if one can imagine how tough it is today, in the sixties and seventies there were no legal protections almost no guideposts for a transwoman, almost no sympathizers outside the narrow confines of other trans people. The risks of transition and pitfalls today are enormous in her day it was unimaginably worse. Trans people today risk a lot to be their true selves but to be trans in 1970 faced much more discrimination. However, this book is not the best tribute to Candy Darling's legacy it is a slapdash product she deserved a better monument to her memory.

If you are considering transitioning I have provided a link to a video resource to get you started.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfO3...

https://transcare.ucsf.edu/guidelines...
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QUOTES PAIGE LIKED
Candy Darling
“You must always be yourself, no matter what the price. It is the highest form of morality.”
― Candy Darling, Candy Darling: Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar
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READING PROGRESS
December 28, 2020 – Started Reading
December 28, 2020 – Shelved (Kindle Edition)
December 28, 2020 – Shelved as: to-read (Kindle Edition)
December 28, 2020 – Shelved
December 29, 2020 –
99.0%
December 29, 2020 – Shelved as: american-history
December 29, 2020 – Shelved as: biography
December 29, 2020 – Shelved as: lbgtqia
December 29, 2020 – Shelved as: lgbt
December 29, 2020 – Shelved as: mid-twentieth-century
December 29, 2020 – Finished Reading

Although she passed away the same year that I was born, denying me the chance to really get to experience her life, Candy Darling was one of the very first transgender icons to whom I aspired. Not only was she stunningly beautiful, but she was accepted, validated, and celebrated as a muse of both the infamous Andy Warhol and punk pioneers The Velvet Underground. Never mind that I didn't get Warhol's art, and was never a fan of Lou Reed's music - Candy, for me, eclipsed them all.

Given that she died far too young to pen her own memoir, I was excited by the idea of Candy Darling: Memoirs of an Andy Warhol Superstar. As a book, it's deeply flawed and painfully opportunistic, but it still provides some wonderful insights into the mind and the personality behind the icon.

Comprised primarily of journal entries and personal letters, interspersed with contemporary reflections on her life and influence, it's a very odd book to read. There's no narrative flow, no logical structure, and it doesn't follow any timeline of events. What's more, the material is presented precisely as Candy wrote it, awkwardly formatted, sometimes hastily scribbled, and in need of a good editor. Surprisingly, for such a short book, there's a lot of fluff and a lot of filler included, but it's all worth it for the deeply personal pieces, including letters addressed to her closest friend.

It's there that we find a fascinating look at what it was like to be a transgender woman at a time when the gay rights movement was just starting to make waves, but when the idea of being transgender was still very far from any sort of open acceptance. She talks of her dreams, coming across as an exceptionally passionate woman, full appreciative of her successes, but also desperately longing for acceptance and validation. There's a voyeuristic feel to reading it, knowing that we're seeing her through papers she never intended to be public, but it's also a fitting way to celebrate one of the very first transgender superstars.


As published on Bending the Bookshelf

Candy Darling is an interesting memoir of a pioneer in the rights of transgendered people. What is fascinating about this story though is not that Candy Darling was once a man but more so the life that she lived in the time period that she lived.

However, as much as that was an interesting aspect of her life it seems to have been somewhat ignored in this book. There is very little reference to Andy Warhol’s Factory and to the life that one of the Warholian Darlings would live. Personally, I feel that the narrative would have been a lot more interesting with these details included.

Furthermore, we are really only seeing things from the perspective of Candy Darling. The book would be a lot more interesting if we had the thoughts and feelings of her contemporaries included.

Overall, Candy Darling is an interesting read, however, if you want to know the explicit details of ‘Factory Life’ then you will be wasting your time reading this book.

Candy Darling by Candy Darling will be available on the 17th of February 2015.