Without condescension

...is how I tried to write my latest Amazon.com review, of A Model Summer, the debut novel by actress/model Paulina Porizkova. It's too easy for casual readers and professional critics alike to fall into the trap of saying things like..."And she can write, too," but, she can.

For what it's worth, even when she was at the height of her fame in the late '80s/early '90s,

Porizkova was never the girl I most wanted to get close to, so don't think this is me speaking up for some dreamgirl past. If it was by Penelope Ann Miller or even Madonna, both of whom made much deeper impressions on my heart back in the day, maybe.

But I don't know if Miller could write a book this good, and I'm sure Madonna couldn't.

Looks-wise, I actually think Porizkova is one of those lucky women who proves the truth of something Ellen Barkin is quoted as saying in the new EW:

"I always thought women peaked between 36 and 43. Something happens to your face and everything just settles in."

I'm going to be a gentleman and not give her exact age, but Porizkova is in that range. This is her a few years ago:



She looks much better to me there than she did in the above picture. But again-none of that has much to do with how I enjoyed the book or not.