YA New York

I think books about modeling are kind of over. Which is not to say it hasn’t been a good run: We’ve had Melissa Walker’s Violet, Cheryl Diamond’s gritty memoir, and Meg Cabot’s awesome sci fi experiment with Nikki/Em. (I would be happy to see more of any of these, btw.)

But then the other day I took in a big delivery of some of those “stock” model books. And I just knew: It’s over. It’s over the way Gossip Girl (the books, not the televisions series) is over, the way vampires are over.

That being said, I have enjoyed one of these factory-produced novels, and I think it deserves a callout: Model, Incorporated is a well-written, engaging story (continued from This Year’s Model) about a young woman from New Jersey whose modeling career is either stalling or taking off, whose love life is a mess, and whose parents are doing their best not to be overprotective. I love how the writer and editors wove it all together.

You see how I said writers and editors, there? I’m sure that Carol Alt, the model (once the face of Lancome) and raw diet proponent to whom this book is credited, had some involvement in the book. Indeed, it seems to be based on her own life story, and we even get a little plug for raw foods.

But the copyright goes to … Altron, Inc. My bet is that there’s some writer out there who has just knocked one out of the park and ought to have a try at making a name for herself. Or himself. (You go, ghostwriter!) And if you’re looking for a last beach read of the summer, you should definitely look for this at your local library.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.