As It Turns Out

We think we know Edie Sedgwick, Warhol muse, Factory superstar, icon of the 1960s, a comet who flamed out too soon.

As It Turns Out is Edie’s story told from a different point of view – that of her older sister, Alice. As Edie’s fame was in the ascendant, Alice was living a completely different life in Manhattan, far away from the Factory and the Chelsea scene. Then, many years later, chancing on Edie’s image in a clip from Andy’s film Outer and Inner Space, Alice was moved to reconsider Edie’s life and try to figure out what made Edie and Andy such iconic figures whose image and collaborative work have endured for decades. How did he anticipate so much of contemporary culture? Who exactly was Edie, that she fascinated Warhol and captured the imagination of a generation?

Wohl tells Edie’s story, from her privileged and isolated childhood on a California ranch to her escape first to Boston and then to Manhattan, where in 1965 she had her first fateful encounter with Warhol. As It Turns Out is a meditation on the girl behind the irresistible image, and on the culture that she and Warhol ignited. Throughout this thoughtful, truthful reappraisal of Edie’s life, Alice Sedgwick Wohl tries to find a deeper answer to the question: What was the thing about Edie?

Author Biography

Alice Sedgwick Wohl is an independent scholar and translator. Her translations include The Life of Michelangelo by Ascanio Condivi, The Lives of the Modern Painters, Sculptors and Architects by Giovan Pietro Bellori, and On Antique Painting by Francisco de Hollanda.