Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. : Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman
Author(s): Sam Wasson
“So smart and entertaining it should come with its own popcorn”—People
Coinciding with the sixtieth anniversary of the film version of Truman Capote’s Breakast at Tiffany’s, the acclaimed, New York Times bestseller that is the definitive account of Audrey Hepburn and the making of the cultural landmark film—now updated with a new introduction by the author.
In Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M., Sam Wasson goes beyond the legend to explore the woman inside the little black dress and the film that captured the imagination of the nation in 1961—when the staid propriety of the Eisenhower years gave way to the glamorous modernity of the Kennedys. With a colorful cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, Givenchy, Moon River composer Henry Mancini, and, of course, the iconic Audrey Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses us in the America of the late fifties and early sixties before Woodstock and birth control, when an alluring, not-so-virginal girl by the name of Holly Golightly melted hearts, raised eyebrows, and forever transformed Americans’ notions of fashion, film, sex, and culture.
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. includes an 8-page black-and-white photo insert.
Review(s):
“A bonbon of a book . . . as well tailored as the little black dress the movie made famous.”
“Anyone even slightly interested in Capote/Hepburn/Breakfast at Tiffany’s will delight in [Wasson’s] account.”
“So smart and entertaining it should come with its own popcorn.”
“This splendid new book is more than a mere ‘making-of’ chronicle. Wasson has pulled it off with verve, intelligence, and a consistent ring of truth...compulsively readable. Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. is both enjoyable and informative: everything a film book ought to be.”
“A fascination with fascination is one way of describing Wasson’s interest in a film that not only captures the sedate elegance of a New York long gone, but that continues to entrance as a love story, a style manifesto, and a way to live.”
“Crammed with irresistible tidbits…[Wasson’s] book winds up as well-tailored as the kind of little black dress that Breakfast at Tiffany’s made famous.”
“Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. offers lots of savory tidbits [from the making of Breakfast at Tiffany’s]. Mr. Wasson brings a lively and impudent approach to his subject.”
“Sam Wasson is a fabulous social historian. . . . [Fifth Avenue, 5 AM] is as melancholy and glittering as Capote’s story of Holly Golightly.”
“A brilliant chronicle of the creation of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Wasson has woven the whole so deftly that it reads like a compulsively page-turning novel. This is a memorable achievement.”
“Wasson’s story is part encyclopedia, part valentine, and worth reading just to find out what exactly went into making the amazing party scene.”
ISBN: 9780063115446