Thing of Beauty

The vividexhaustive (The New York Times Book Review) account of the iconic and tragic life career and legacy of supermodel Gia Carangi. At seventeen Gia Carangi was working the counter at her fathers Philadelphia luncheonette. Within a year she was one of the worlds top models gracing the covers of Cosmopolitan and Vogue partying at Studio 54 and redefining the fashion industrys standard of beauty. But behind the glitz and fame Gia was a young woman in pain desperate for her mothers approval and facing a drug addiction that quickly spun out of control. With dizzying speed she went from $10 000-a-day fashion shoots to using drugs on the streets of New York and Atlantic City before finally being blackballed from modeling. At twenty-six Gia once again made history as one of the first famous women to die of AIDS. This chilling tale (The Boston Globe) based on hundreds of interviews with friends family lovers and fashionistas (the term author Stephen Fried coined for her industry colleagues) is comprehensively explored in this unputdownable biography that will introduce Gia to a new generation. It is also a powerful exploration of our societys views of beauty and sexuality fame and objectification mothers and daughters love and death.