Stylish Read: "Anna" by Amy Odell

If you think of Anna as the devil in "The Devil Wears Prada", Amy Odell's biography won't change your mind. If you've always given Anna Wintour benefit of the doubt—how could anyone be that self-centered and self-serving?—you may still. 

Amy Odell's tone is mostly reportorial, using positive quotes from co-workers, acquaintances and—yes—a few friends. So Anna likes dogs and tennis and can joke around? That doesn't a person make, and the facts pretty much speak for themselves.

Anna I as I think of her—very alone

I waited quite a while for my library hold to come up, and there were only five people before me. Some reader or readers had it for a very long time, and I think I know why. It's a bit of a slog. 

Though I knew a little about many of those mentioned, I still found myself Googling and going down tangential rabbit holes, slowing the reading even more. The author also makes no bones about using published sources, so if you've read your Tina Brown, Graces Mirabella and Coddington, Andre Leon Talley, etc., you will find them quoted here.

Hers was not a straight path to the top, now Global Chief Content Officer of Condé Nast, a position that didn't exist before Anna. Her ambition was always to be Editor of Vogue and she never hid that from anyone. During a job interview with Grace Mirabella (thenVogue's Editor), when asked what position she would like, said, "I want your job."

Looking uncharacteristically vulnerable

Anna is both hard to root for and hard to root against. Her determination and work ethic are admirable. No one has ever accused her of slacking, only a little shirking (getting others to do what she didn't want to). Her ideas of reporting fashion and style were often ahead of their time. Her armor-plating kept her from backing down from her beliefs. What she lacks (at least in public) is a sense of humor, the saving grace of someone like Martha Stewart or even Elon Musk, who can laugh at themselves while still forging ahead.

I've worked for people I liked and respected (the best), and I've worked for people I respected but didn't particulary like (a few). I've also worked for some I did not like and did not respect (that never lasted long). I've never worked for someone I was afraid of, and that would seem to be many of Anna's hires. No doubt this is no fault of her own as Anna's reputation always precedes her. 

"Anna" is also a sober commentary on the state of print publishing today. It's not my imagination that since 2012 magazines have gotten thinner and less frequent. The question is, are they also less relevant?With her continued influence across platforms of fashion, media and culture, that's clearly not a question to ask of Anna Wintour.