sbcltr gives you a peek into the charmingly irreverent book by the iconic artist 

When he was not famous and pop art’s father, Andy Warhol was just another struggling artist trying to make some money. During this time, he was employed at a certain leather goods company in New York. In an epitaph in his new book, The Autobiography of a Snake, Teddy and Arthur Fleming-Joffe, (co-founders of the eponymous label where Warhol worked) write that, “Andy created our swatch cards, our wrapping paper, shopping bags, magazine ads, and even a colouring book for our clients.”

It was here, right before fame hit and life took a completely different turn for Warhol that he came up with this charming, satirical story that reflects on the naked ambitions of a snake called, Noa the Boa. Noa, who is blatantly obsessed with the idea of celebrity and fashion will let nothing get in the way of its social climb. Warhol sketches the world of Noa the Boa with an irreverent hand and writing such as, “I am a snake. I slither like a snake, and I look like a snake, but I have the creative soul of an artist and an actor…I longed to be part of high society, so I reinvented myself.”

His adventures take him through the glamorous world, he becomes an accessory for Liz Taylor, a bracelet; Chanel, a shirt; Jackie O, as boots and even the dancers at Folies Bergère, as curtains. The book is a delight, not for the art alone, but more so because of the cheeky undertones of the text presented.  “More recently I became the darling of women who needed me. I gave them chic. As a belt I could squeeze an inch off your waist. This trick made me particularly popular,” he writes.

The book, which is published by Thames & Hudson is particularly fantastic when you look at it through the purview of Warhol’s own life.  As Noa says on the last page, “I have arrived!”

You can buy the book here