Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women - Michael Gross

The Basics: Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, Michael Gross, 1995, 524 pages, hard cover

How I found it: Gross was actually a guest judge on a recent episode of Canada's Next Top Model. As part of his appearance he helped prepare the contestants for the tougher aspects of modeling and his book sounded interesting.

What's it about?: This book is basically a history of modeling from it's beginnings in the early 20th century up to the early 1990s. Gross goes into meticulous detail about every event of importance in modeling in that period. There are lots of interesting behind the scenes stories and lots of gossip. The book is definitely a history of the business aspect of modeling so there is a lot of focus on the rise and fall of various modeling agencies and not as much focus on the actual models themselves.

Did I like it?: If the book had been more about the models and less about the agencies I would have liked it a lot more. I found the business dealings between the agencies to be quite dry and found myself skimming through those sections. I didn't mind this book but it wasn't that exciting because all the gossip is about models that I am too young to remember. Since the book was finished in the early 90s, the models that are familiar to me today don't even make it into the book and there is no gossip or history about them.

Will you like it?: Unless you are a die-hard fashion industry worshipper you should skip this one. I'm sure there are better introductions into how the modeling industry works than this huge history volume. Or you could just go watch Top Model for the reality TV version of modeling - much more entertaining.

But don't take my word for it: Readers on Amazon.ca all seemed to like it, and otherwise I can't seem to find any reviews.