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Model Incorporated by Carol Alt
(2009, Avon, 292 pages)

This ChickLit follows supermodel Mac as she begins to make her name in modeling.  Alt wrote an earlier book, This Year’s Model, which introduced Mac.  I didn’t read This Year’s Model but had no trouble following the storyline.

Whether Alt actually wrote this book or had substantial help from a ghostwriter is irrelevant.  What is relevant is the book feels like someone who is plucked from a middle-class background at 19-years-old and suddenly experiences the benefits and drawbacks of being a model on her way up.  I don’t know a lot about Carol Alt, but it seems like she is relying heavily on her experiences to shed insight into this glitzy profession.  The book reads like an authentic experience.

Mac receives favours and gifts from wealthy men, fights with her parents about whether she should accept a scholarship to university, convinces her parents to allow her to move out and deals with being on shoots with demanding – and crazy – photographers.  The book offers a good look about what it’s like being someone who is judged solely by her appearance, and the glamour does tarnish from the profession.

The book is focused on whether Mac will make the ultimate breakthrough for a young model, being named a Cover Girl.

Carol Alt is now a big proponent of the raw food diet. While she doesn’t push that in the story, she does address how Mac struggles to stay thin, while surrounded by people who are able to take her to the best restaurants.

I thought this was a very decent read. I lost myself in Mac’s world and I think you will, too.

Model, Incorporated is a fun, quick, indulgent read.