Delving into the long, extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of self-help book, exploring Chanel's philosophy on themes ranging from style to passion, success to living life on your own terms. Born in 1883 in a French poorhouse, Chanel grew up to be the woman who not only gave us the little black dress and boxy jackets, but also gave women a chic freedom. Elegant, opinionated, and passionate, she was the only fashion icon among TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century. The Gospel According to Coco Chanel is a captivating look at style, celebrity, and self-invention-all held together with droll Chanel-style commentary and culled from an examination of Chanel's difficult childhood and triumphant adulthood, love affairs, and eccentricities.