
Genre: Biography
Tag: Ghost Written Books
Publisher: YellowBay.co.uk
Publication Year: 2011
Format: Ebook, Paperback & Audiobook
Length: 252
Narrator: Pete Nottage
ASIN: B005HRYCWI
ISBN: 9781491038208
Sexy, eyewitness account of life with Dali described in a colourful, energetic style that touches the sublime and the magnificent.
Dali was famously a voyeur and in this extraordinary book we are witnesses to the bizarre sexual fantasies he lived out among celebrities, aristocrats, enemies and the plain crazy.
"The Surrealist painter deliberately lived his life to complement his deceptive and illusory art. By the end, it was so close to being a confidence trick in itself that historians and biographers have had to struggle to separate fact from the sexual fantasy. Sex, Surrealism, Dali and Me is now set to bring the voice of an eye witness to the Salvador Dali myth - and to all the orgiastic gossip about the past."
Vanessa Thorpe - The Observer
Reviews
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'Fascinating. Compelling. A unique book, beautifully written with touches of magic realism and Daliesque surrealism. The best book I've read this year,'
The Mail on Sunday
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'Extremely funny - not for the squeamish,'
Susannah Herbert, The Daily Telegraph
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'This revealing and thoughtful memoir of the life and times of Salvador Dali is probably the most accurate account that we have of the great surrealist painter,'
Dalya Alberge, The Times
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brings us the voice of an eye-witness to the Salvador Dali myth - and to all the orgiastic gossip about the past,'
Vanessa Thorpe - The Observer
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I recently read a work by Clifford Thurlow, and having been so impressed by the style, I decided to read some more. I admit to having little true knowledge of Salvador Dali, save for his striking, bizarre images found in his surrealist work, but was delighted to find this memoir was delivered with exquisite panache, soon drawing me into its world while revealing an insight into the enigmatic mind of Dali, a mind perhaps only seen by the rare few, and by others so often misunderstood. ‘Sex, Surrealism, Dali and Me’ is a superb piece of writing and recounted by Carlos Lozano, a loyal confidant of Dali, and describes Dali’s intrigue with young androgynous males, his ostentatious lifestyle, depravity and notoriety. His love of provocation, in the fascination of arousing sexual feeling by means of suggestion, symbolism, or allusion clearly spills from his private life and into his work as an artist. A wonderful glimpse from a different perspective and one I highly recommend. A must read for each and any admirer of Salvador Dali.2 people found this helpful
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Anyone attracted to Dali's art will find this book illuminating. Just what light it will cast is more difficult to gauge. The narrator, Carlos Lozano, comes across - at least to me - as more notable than Dali himself. Lozano speaks of the occasional jewels to be found amid the garbage of Dali's life, a life lacking all inhibitions. The main jewel is the compassion that Lozano obviously retained towards Dali, despite the latter's egomania and perverse eccentricities.
As a lover of biographies one such as this makes me think of others on human beings such as Hitler and Stalin. Really, just how "perverse" was Dali given such company?
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Having had no prior knowledge of Carlos Lozano, I was both curious and skeptical about this book, but I needn’t have been because like all great stories I was immediately gripped. I had thought that this book was going to be a light read but it offered much more than that, it exceeded my expectations and taught so much about Carlos Lozano ‘s life at Dali’s court. I also learned never to judge a book by it’s cover!
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This is a remarkable book and a hugely readable one. Clifford Thurlow not only gets inside the head of Carlos Lozano, Salvador Dalí's `Ambassador' in Cadaqués, but also gives us rich glimpses into the life of Dalí and his always interesting entourage.
Thurlow effortlessly gets the reader to empathise with Lozano - the poor boy from Barranquilla. First as a dancer and latterly as a gallery owner Carlos Lozano retains a closeness to Dalí that enables him to understand the great eccentric like few others - and in a much more rounded way. Thus the reader is drawn into Dalí's circle of friends, hangers on, assorted eccentrics and their lives on a daily basis in a way that few other books on Dalí have managed to capture.
The zeitgeist is beautifully evoked with vignettes such as George Harrisons's head popping over a wall and Dali thinking he was an assassin, or Keith Richards accusing Lozano of stealing his coat. It also touchingly recounts the slow decline of Dalí and Gala through Lozano's eyes - a part of the book where the affection of Lozano for his long time friend and the life that this friendship gave him is written with skill and sensitivity.
The reader will be drawn into this Sex, Surrealism, Dalí and Me, regardless of any prior knowledge of Lozano or Dalí, because it stylish, well crafted, elegantly written and most importantly a cracking read.
5* Amazon review
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What a book. Fantasically written account of Carlos Lozano's time spent in the prescence of the Court of Dali. The setting is flowery & anything can & will happen. It's a time when people wanted & were still able to shock by behaviour & dress. A time that no longer exists. If you want a peek into a bygone world of excess, privilege & beauty, this is a book for you. Some of the excesses are verging on medieval. Dali performed, often brilliantly, occasionally banally in his quest to shock while Carlos stood silently by, ever the good friend, absorbing all around him & never losing his sense of wondrement. Thankfully, his memory of recall served him well. Carlos comes across as a very likeable person to open up this world that only the young, beautiful & very wealthy were allowed to see. His aim was to please & be liked & he certainly achieves that with this marvellous memoir. Thank you Mr. Thurlow.