cover image Fabulous: A Portrait of Andy Warhol

Fabulous: A Portrait of Andy Warhol

Bonnie Christensen. Holt/Ottaviano, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8753-6

In an intimate biography of Andy Warhol, "Prince of Pop, King of Cool," Christensen spans a 30-year period%E2%80%94from the artist's upbringing in Pittsburgh to the height of his popularity in the 1960s%E2%80%94emphasizing a self-made rags-to-riches ascent. From early influences (religious icons, celebrities, comic books) and obstacles (including a disease that "caused muscle spasms and permanently blotchy skin" and relentless teasing) to his transition from commercial art to pop artist extraordinaire, Christensen's informal prose and heavily textured oil paintings, composed over photo collages, depict a man constantly absorbing everything around him and incorporating it into his art in a way that shocked and delighted the world. An author's note and a time line provide further detail into Warhol's later life. Ages 6%E2%80%939. (May)