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An incisive, beautifully written first novel by a former supermodel that explores the glamorous and gritty world she inhabited

Only a handful of women in the world have experienced what Paulina Porizkova has -- being whisked away to model in Paris while still a teenager, reaching the pinnacle of the profession before herschoolmates had even graduated -- and fewer still have the insight to capture it on paper.

In her first novel, Paulina tells the story of Jirina. A tall, scrawny fifteen-year-old girl from Sweden, she’s much more accustomed to taunts and disdain than admiration and affection, whether from her classmates or her own family. That all changes when her only friend, Hatty, asks to practice her makeup and photography skills on Jirina. Almost before she knows it Jirina is on a plane to Paris, where she will spend the summer in a milieuentirely alien to her. Living at the home of her modeling agency’s owner and constantly subjected to blunt physical assessments, catty and often cruel fellow models, and womanizing photographers -- and, miraculously enough, while sometimes feeling truly beautiful -- Jirina embarks on a journey beyond her wildest imaginings. Between photo shoots in Italy and Morocco and parties with models and musicians, Jirina manages to make a few friends, fall in love, and, eventually, feel the very adult pain of betrayal and heartbreak.

Told with the grace, simplicity, and accuracy that can only come from real-life experience, A Model Summer is both the debut of a notably talented novelist and an unusually well-informed look behind the scenes at a world many people fantasize about, but few really know. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

A Wonderful Read
I was was absolutely pleasantly surprised by this book.I got into the story on the first page in the bookstore and bought it.I typically could care less about the modeling world so that was not why I picked it up to begin with.I had no idea until I was home that Paulina Porizkova wrote the book.This story was so well written, you get immediately sucked into the main character's life; it feels very authentic and I had to know what happened next.I couldn't put it down and read it in two days.For those who snicker at the modeling world, this is really a good story and you should try it.

Fun reading.
I did expect a popular literature and I received it. Very easy to read, fun, constant action. Great for long flights or at doctor's office. The story gave me to think about letting the 15 year old kid go alone to big city, not a good idea, but I knew that already:) I didn't expect to read about masturbation or some sex in details, but at least the whole story is more "real";)

You must read this enjoyable story!!
Author/supermodel Paulina Porizkova has beautifully written an engaging tale about a 15-year-old girl's whirlwind summer spent modeling in Europe.The story begins as Jirina is discovered by a Paris modeling agency.Growing up quietly in a troubled home, she is a naive, insecure girl when she enters the glamorous, yet cruel world of modeling.She succumbs to the drug and alcohol infested lifestyle, and endures humiliation, criticism and hostility as she struggles to survive on her own in Paris.A romance with a famous photographer leaves her pregnant.This fascinating story ends with a true sense of hope.

Ms. Porizkova is a brilliant storyteller who completely captivated me with her cast of intriguing characters.Her candid depiction of the modeling world was riveting.As entertaining as this story was, it did include important lessons about life, friendship and what it means to accept oneself. In addition, it demonstrated a valuable message about never giving up.I absolutely loved this compelling story of survival and hope and I highly recommend it!

model summer
all depends when and where you read this kind of novel. I read it going from Paris to London during fashion week and seing those young slim models ready to light the catwalk,,, it was a beautiful reading, I enjoyed very much and imagine what is to be one of them, how difficult to learnt everything in few months, new codes, language, long traveling, new people etc, when you are just only teenager, far from home...
Daniela

Entertaining
This is a fun read and it really shows what its like in the modeling world. Paulina is not only beautiful but a very good writer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (34)

A Wonderful Read
I was was absolutely pleasantly surprised by this book.I got into the story on the first page in the bookstore and bought it.I typically could care less about the modeling world so that was not why I picked it up to begin with.I had no idea until I was home that Paulina Porizkova wrote the book.This story was so well written, you get immediately sucked into the main character's life; it feels very authentic and I had to know what happened next.I couldn't put it down and read it in two days.For those who snicker at the modeling world, this is really a good story and you should try it.

Fun reading.
I did expect a popular literature and I received it. Very easy to read, fun, constant action. Great for long flights or at doctor's office. The story gave me to think about letting the 15 year old kid go alone to big city, not a good idea, but I knew that already:) I didn't expect to read about masturbation or some sex in details, but at least the whole story is more "real";)

You must read this enjoyable story!!
Author/supermodel Paulina Porizkova has beautifully written an engaging tale about a 15-year-old girl's whirlwind summer spent modeling in Europe.The story begins as Jirina is discovered by a Paris modeling agency.Growing up quietly in a troubled home, she is a naive, insecure girl when she enters the glamorous, yet cruel world of modeling.She succumbs to the drug and alcohol infested lifestyle, and endures humiliation, criticism and hostility as she struggles to survive on her own in Paris.A romance with a famous photographer leaves her pregnant.This fascinating story ends with a true sense of hope.

Ms. Porizkova is a brilliant storyteller who completely captivated me with her cast of intriguing characters.Her candid depiction of the modeling world was riveting.As entertaining as this story was, it did include important lessons about life, friendship and what it means to accept oneself. In addition, it demonstrated a valuable message about never giving up.I absolutely loved this compelling story of survival and hope and I highly recommend it!

model summer
all depends when and where you read this kind of novel. I read it going from Paris to London during fashion week and seing those young slim models ready to light the catwalk,,, it was a beautiful reading, I enjoyed very much and imagine what is to be one of them, how difficult to learnt everything in few months, new codes, language, long traveling, new people etc, when you are just only teenager, far from home...
Daniela

Entertaining
This is a fun read and it really shows what its like in the modeling world. Paulina is not only beautiful but a very good writer. ... Read more

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When some older boys persuade Ralphie the Roach to venture beyond the boundaries of Roachtown to retrieve some jellybeans, Ralphie rises to the occasion and begins his perilous mission. ... Read more

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15" x 15" ... Read more

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Approximately 8.5 " x 11" ... Read more

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15" x 15" ... Read more

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Approximately 8.5 " x 11" ... Read more

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Chapters: Czech Female Models, Paulina Porizkova, Karolína Kurková, Petra Němcová, Ivana Trump, Helena Houdová, Taťána Kuchařová, Eva Herzigová, Hana Soukupová, Veronika Vařeková, Daniela Peštová, Pavlína Němcová, Alena Šeredová, Markéta Bělonohá, Tereza Maxová, Denisa Dvorakova, Linda Vojtova, Petra Skálová. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 55. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Paulina Poízková, now known as Paulina Porizkova-Ocasek (Czech: , pronounced ; born 9 April 1965) is a Czechoslovakian-born Swedish-American model and actress. Born in Prostjov, Czechoslovakia, Pavlína Poízková was still a toddler when her parents left Czechoslovakia, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, and moved to Lund, Sweden, leaving young Paulina in the care of her grandmother in Czechoslovakia, believing that their daughter could be brought out later. However, the Czechoslovakian authorities would not allow this, and the ensuing battle for Poízková was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. After a failed rescue attempt, in which her mother was detained by the national police, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Poízek family to be reunited after seven years. Poízková acquired Swedish citizenship. The reunion was soon ended when Poízková's father left the family, and her parents filed for divorce. Poízková and her father have been estranged since. This left Poízková's mother to fund her own medical education, and Poízková and her brother Jáchym Poízek (who was born in Czechoslovakia during her mother's house arrest) to look after themselves, including having to steal bread to have something to eat. An aspiring photographer friend took pictures of Poízková and sent them to the Elite modeling agency in 1980, ho...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=871448 ... Read more

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Chapters: People From Konice, People From Prostějov, Edmund Husserl, Moritz Steinschneider, Paulina Porizkova, Karel Nováček, Lukáš Krajíček, Josef František, Ignaz Brüll, Otto Wichterle, Rudolf Plajner, Franz Fiedler, Jan Březina, Josef Frank, Jiří Wolker, Nina Škottová, Nathan Porges, Václav Kaprál, Miloslav Vlček, Matěj Rejsek. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 75. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (German pronunciation: ; April 8, 1859, Prostjov, Moravia, Austrian Empire April 26, 1938, Freiburg, Germany) was a philosopher who is deemed the founder of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, believing that experience is the source of all knowledge, while at the same time he elaborated critiques of psychologism and historicism. Born into a Moravian Jewish family, he was baptized as a Lutheran in 1887. Husserl studied mathematics under Karl Weierstrass, completing a Ph.D. under Leo Königsberger, and studied philosophy under Franz Brentano and Carl Stumpf. Husserl taught philosophy, as a Privatdozent at Halle from 1887, then as professor, first at Göttingen from 1901, then at Freiburg im Breisgau from 1916 until his 1928 retirement. Husserl's teaching and writing influenced, among others, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Kurt Gödel, Alfred Schütz, Paul Ricur, Jacques Derrida, Dietrich von Hildebrand and Francisco Varela. Husserl was born in 1859 into a Jewish family in Prostjov, a town that was then in the Austrian Empire, after 1918 a part of Czechoslovakia, and since 1993 a part of the Czech Republic. He initially studied mathematics at the universities of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878), under Karl Weierstrass and Leopold Kronecker. In 1881 he went to...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=9518 ... Read more

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11" x 8"; 704 pages; The Best of American Fashion Special. ... Read more

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Chapters: Czech Female Models, Czech Women Writers, Paulina Porizkova, Karolína Kurková, Petra Němcová, Ivana Trump, Maria Stona, Helena Houdová, Taťána Kuchařová, Petra Hůlová, Eva Herzigová, Marie Šťastná, Hana Soukupová, Veronika Vařeková, Daniela Peštová, Pavlína Němcová, Alena Šeredová, Markéta Bělonohá, Tereza Maxová, Denisa Dvorakova, Linda Vojtova, Dominika Dery, Petra Skálová. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 67. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Paulina Poízková, now known as Paulina Porizkova-Ocasek (Czech: , pronounced ; born 9 April 1965) is a Czechoslovakian-born Swedish-American model and actress. Born in Prostjov, Czechoslovakia, Pavlína Poízková was still a toddler when her parents left Czechoslovakia, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, and moved to Lund, Sweden, leaving young Paulina in the care of her grandmother in Czechoslovakia, believing that their daughter could be brought out later. However, the Czechoslovakian authorities would not allow this, and the ensuing battle for Poízková was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. After a failed rescue attempt, in which her mother was detained by the national police, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Poízek family to be reunited after seven years. Poízková acquired Swedish citizenship. The reunion was soon ended when Poízková's father left the family, and her parents filed for divorce. Poízková and her father have been estranged since. This left Poízková's mother to fund her own medical education, and Poízková and her brother Jáchym Poízek (who was born in Czechoslovakia during her mother's house arrest) to look after themselves, including having to steal bread to have something to eat. An aspiring photographer friend to...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=871448 ... Read more

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Chapters: Paulina Porizkova, Mikael Samuelson, Carolina Gynning, Edward Blom, Agneta Sjödin, Johanna Sällström, Bert Karlsson, Olinda Borggren, Sanna Bråding, Hawa Ahmed, Peter Magnusson, Tina Nordström, Lasse Berghagen, Björn Kjellman, Hans Villius, Carina Berg, Filip Hammar, Fredrik Wikingsson, David Hellenius, Emma Wiklund, Tilde Fröling, Anna Book, Martin Lidberg, Kristina Fröjmark, Tony Irving, Daniel Breitholtz, Björn Hellberg, Peter Swartling, Kishti Tomita, Orvar Säfström, Marie Plosjö, Mugambwa Sseruwagi, Anna Järphammar, Arne Weise, Pontus Gårdinger, Sverker Olofsson, Fredrik Belfrage, Linda Olofsson, Philomène Grandin, Jessica Almenäs, Olle Palmlöf, Charlotte Permell, Annika Duckmark, Pekka Heino, Linda Isacsson, Hans Wiklund. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 117. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Paulina Poízková, now known as Paulina Porizkova-Ocasek (Czech: , pronounced ; born 9 April 1965) is a Czechoslovakian-born Swedish-American model and actress. Born in Prostjov, Czechoslovakia, Pavlína Poízková was still a toddler when her parents left Czechoslovakia, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, and moved to Lund, Sweden, leaving young Paulina in the care of her grandmother in Czechoslovakia, believing that their daughter could be brought out later. However, the Czechoslovakian authorities would not allow this, and the ensuing battle for Poízková was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. After a failed rescue attempt, in which her mother was detained by the national police, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Poízek family to be reunited after seven years. Poízková acquired Swedish citizenship. The reunion was soon ended when Poízková's father left the family, and her parents ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=871448 ... Read more

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Chapters: Max Von Sydow, Peter Stormare, Stellan Skarsgård, Paulina Porizkova, Lena Olin, Ola Lindholm, Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Britt Ekland, Tor Johnson, Josefin Crafoord, May Britt, Micke Dubois, Per Ragnar, Johanna Sällström, Ingrid Goude, Sarah Dawn Finer, Tova Magnusson Norling, Ulla Strömstedt, Gustaf Hammarsten, Nils Asther, Gösta Prüzelius, Johannes Brost, Percy Brandt, Johan Rabaeus, Torsten Lilliecrona, Amanda Ooms, Cajsalisa Ejemyr, Inday Ba, Christer Flodin, Anders Linder, Marika Lagercrantz, Halvar Björk, Eva Remaeus, Jenny Ulving, Bertram Heribertson. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 126. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Max von Sydow (born 10 April 1929; pronounced in English, in Swedish) is a Swedish actor. He has also held French citizenship since 2002. He has starred in many movies and had supporting roles in dozens more. He has performed in movies filmed in many languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, English, Italian, German, Danish, French and Spanish. Some of his most memorable film roles include Antonius Block in Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal", Jesus in "The Greatest Story Ever Told", Father Merrin in "The Exorcist", and The Emperor Ming in the 1980 version of "Flash Gordon". Von Sydow was born Carl Adolf von Sydow to a wealthy family in Lund, Skåne, Sweden. His father, Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, was an ethnologist and professor of Irish, Scandinavian and comparative folklore at the University of Lund. His mother, Baroness Greta (née Rappe), was a school teacher. Von Sydow was brought up as a Lutheran and later became an agnostic. He attended the Cathedral School of Lund, and learned German and English starting at the age of nine. At school, he and some friends founded an amateur theatre company. He completed National Service before studying at the Royal Drama...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=76496 ... Read more

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Chapters: Paulina Porizkova, Karolína Kurková, Petra Němcová, Ivana Trump, Helena Houdová, Taťána Kuchařová, Eva Herzigová, Hana Soukupová, Veronika Vařeková, Daniela Peštová, Pavlína Němcová, Alena Šeredová, Markéta Bělonohá, Tereza Maxová, Denisa Dvorakova, Linda Vojtova, Petra Skálová. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 61. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Paulina Poízková, now known as Paulina Porizkova-Ocasek (Czech: , pronounced ; born 9 April 1965) is a Czechoslovakian-born Swedish-American model and actress. Born in Prostjov, Czechoslovakia, Pavlína Poízková was still a toddler when her parents left Czechoslovakia, fleeing the Warsaw Pact invasion in 1968, and moved to Lund, Sweden, leaving young Paulina in the care of her grandmother in Czechoslovakia, believing that their daughter could be brought out later. However, the Czechoslovakian authorities would not allow this, and the ensuing battle for Poízková was widely publicized in the Swedish press, making her a cause célèbre. After a failed rescue attempt, in which her mother was detained by the national police, international political pressure led by Olof Palme caused the communist government to allow the Poízek family to be reunited after seven years. Poízková acquired Swedish citizenship. The reunion was soon ended when Poízková's father left the family, and her parents filed for divorce. Poízková and her father have been estranged since. This left Poízková's mother to fund her own medical education, and Poízková and her brother Jáchym Poízek (who was born in Czechoslovakia during her mother's house arrest) to look after themselves, including having to steal bread to have something to eat. An aspiring photographer friend took pictures of Poízková and sent them to the Elite modeling agency in 1980, hoping they would notic...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=871448 ... Read more

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Chapters: People From Prostějov, Edmund Husserl, Moritz Steinschneider, Paulina Porizkova, Karel Nováček, Lukáš Krajíček, Ignaz Brüll, Otto Wichterle, Rudolf Plajner, Franz Fiedler, Josef Frank, Jiří Wolker, Nina Škottová, Nathan Porges, Matěj Rejsek, Modřanská Prostějov. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 71. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (German pronunciation: ; April 8, 1859, Prostjov, Moravia, Austrian Empire April 26, 1938, Freiburg, Germany) was a philosopher who is deemed the founder of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, believing that experience is the source of all knowledge, while at the same time he elaborated critiques of psychologism and historicism. Born into a Moravian Jewish family, he was baptized as a Lutheran in 1887. Husserl studied mathematics under Karl Weierstrass, completing a Ph.D. under Leo Königsberger, and studied philosophy under Franz Brentano and Carl Stumpf. Husserl taught philosophy, as a Privatdozent at Halle from 1887, then as professor, first at Göttingen from 1901, then at Freiburg im Breisgau from 1916 until his 1928 retirement. Husserl's teaching and writing influenced, among others, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Kurt Gödel, Alfred Schütz, Paul Ricur, Jacques Derrida, Dietrich von Hildebrand and Francisco Varela. Husserl was born in 1859 into a Jewish family in Prostjov, a town that was then in the Austrian Empire, after 1918 a part of Czechoslovakia, and since 1993 a part of the Czech Republic. He initially studied mathematics at the universities of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878), under Karl Weierstrass and Leopold Kronecker. In 1881 he went to Vienna to study under the supervision of Leo Königsberger (...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=9518 ... Read more

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Chapters: Edmund Husserl, Moritz Steinschneider, Paulina Porizkova, Karel Nováček, Lukáš Krajíček, Ignaz Brüll, Otto Wichterle, Rudolf Plajner, Franz Fiedler, Josef Frank, Jiří Wolker, Nina Škottová, Nathan Porges, Matěj Rejsek. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 68. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (German pronunciation: ; April 8, 1859, Prostjov, Moravia, Austrian Empire April 26, 1938, Freiburg, Germany) was a philosopher who is deemed the founder of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, believing that experience is the source of all knowledge, while at the same time he elaborated critiques of psychologism and historicism. Born into a Moravian Jewish family, he was baptized as a Lutheran in 1887. Husserl studied mathematics under Karl Weierstrass, completing a Ph.D. under Leo Königsberger, and studied philosophy under Franz Brentano and Carl Stumpf. Husserl taught philosophy, as a Privatdozent at Halle from 1887, then as professor, first at Göttingen from 1901, then at Freiburg im Breisgau from 1916 until his 1928 retirement. Husserl's teaching and writing influenced, among others, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Kurt Gödel, Alfred Schütz, Paul Ricur, Jacques Derrida, Dietrich von Hildebrand and Francisco Varela. Husserl was born in 1859 into a Jewish family, but was not Jewish himself, in Prostjov, a town that was then in the Austrian Empire, after 1918 a part of Czechoslovakia, and since 1993 a part of the Czech Republic. His great great nephew is his prodigy He initially studied mathematics at the universities of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878), under Karl Weierstrass and Leopold Kronecker. In 1881 he went to Vienna to study under the supervisio...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=9518 ... Read more

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This issue features Jodie Foster on the cover and in a feature inside, plus a small feature on Sonia Braga, a fashion layout of Paulina Porizkova, Cindy McCain, and much more! ... Read more