'Exuberantly entertaining' NYT Book Review 'Mark Braude's writing and subject make this book irresistible, as was Kiki herself.' Jim Jarmusch 'A delightful, marvelously readable, meticulously-researched romp of a book, Kiki Man Ray brings to life not just the kaleidoscopically talented Kiki herself, but the endlessly fascinating Montparnasse milieu over which she reigned.' Whitney Scharer, author of THE AGE OF LIGHT Though many have never heard her name, Alice Prin - Kiki de Montparnasse - was the icon of 1920s Paris. She captivated as a ground-breaking nightclub performer, wrote a bestselling memoir, sold out exhibitions of her paintings, and shared drinks and ideas with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Peggy Guggenheim, and Marcel Duchamp. She also shepherded along the career of a then-unknown American photographer: Man Ray. Following Kiki in the years between 1921 and 1929, when she lived and worked with Man Ray, Kiki Man Ray charts their complicated entanglement and reveals how Man Ray - always the unabashed careerist - went on to become one of the most famous photographers of the twentieth century, enjoying wealth and prestige, while Kiki's legacy was lost. But this isn't a story of an overbearing male genius and his defeated muse. During the 1920s it was Kiki, not Man Ray, who was the brighter of the two rising stars and a powerful figure among the close-knit community of models, painters, writers and café wastrels who made their homes in gritty Montparnasse. Following the couple as they created art, struggled for power and competed for fame, Kiki Man Ray illuminates for the first time Kiki's seminal influence on the culture of 1920s Paris, and challenges ideas about artists and muses, and the lines separating the two. 'Kiki de Montparnasse was more than a muse - she was a vivacious, independent woman whose talent and magnetism helped make Paris the center of the art world in the 1920s. In Mark Braude's riveting cultural history, the Queen of Montparnasse rises again. This is a lively and compassionate tribute to the chanteuse, model, and portraitist who held center stage in her life, and who inspired some of the finest Surrealist art of the twentieth century.' Heather Clark, author of Pulitzer Prize-finalist Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Alice was born in 1901 in a small town in France. Her parents were poor, and her mother was sent to work at a hospital in Paris, leaving Alice to be raised by her aunts. Her mother, Marie, sent home five francs a month. When she was older, Alice went to the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul for helpings of vegetable broth and rice. #2 Alice was raised by her aunts after her mother was sent to work in Paris. She went to a public school in France, where the headmistress scratched at her hunting for lice. She preferred life outdoors, where she could always find something to eat. #3 Alice was born in 1901 in France. She was raised by her aunts after her mother was sent to work in Paris. She went to a public school in France, where the headmistress scratched at her hunting for lice. She preferred life outdoors, where she could always find something to eat. #4 Alice was a French girl who was raised by her aunts after her mother was sent to work in Paris. She went to a public school in France, where the headmistress scratched at her hunting for lice. She preferred life outdoors, where she could always find something to eat.

This biography captures Man Ray's life on the Left Bank of Paris between the two World Wars with intriguing stories of artists, models, dealers, & poets, along with Man Ray's stunning black-and-white images of everyone from Picasso, Duchamp, Dali & Gertrude Stein.

This story, enriched by previously unpublished material and the close cooperation of Juliet Man Ray, the artist's widow, should stand for years to come as the definitive story of the life and times of one of the greatest of modern artists.

Man Ray is the quintessential modernist figure--painter, sculptor, objectmaker, and collagist; photographer, printmaker, and filmmaker; poet, essayist, and philosopher. One of the most important and en

From 1900 to 1930, Montparnasse was the center of artistic life for the whole world. Now this major contribution to the social and cultural history of the period -- with its informative text and hundreds of photographs -- is available in paperback once again.

"In the bohemian and brilliant Montparnasse of the 1920s, Kiki escaped poverty to become one of the most charismatic figures of the avant-garde years between the wars. Partner to Man Ray, she would be immortalised by many artists. The muse of a generation, she was one of the first emancipated women of the 20th century." -- Provided by publisher.