Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women

“Rewarding . . . highly enjoyable, perhaps unprecedented. The definitive work of the Barbizon school.” —New York Times Book Review

The definitive story of the international modeling business—and its evil twin, legalized flesh peddling—Model is a tale of beautiful women empowered and subjugated; of vast sums of money; of sex and drugs, obsession and tragic death; and of the most unholy combination in commerce: stunning young women and rich, lascivious men.

Investigative journalist Michael Gross takes us into the private studios and hidden villas where models play and are preyed upon, and tears down modeling’s carefully constructed façade of glamour to reveal the untold truths of an ugly trade.

“Sprawling . . . energetic . . . Gross has obviously thought deeply about the machinations and meaning of the modeling business.” —People

“One long, scurrilously detailed dish. The first comprehensive history of modeling and a chewy read.” —Harper’s Bazaar

“Staggeringly well-researched . . . Hideously fascinating.” —Cosmopolitan