Thing of Beauty

There are many angles to motivate reading this book, and mine is from a deep interest in HIV. The supermodel known simply as "Gia" was one of the first prominent women to die of AIDS-related complications, and she remains one of the best-explored IV drug users who died from AIDS. Of course, most of the world knows her as a model who quickly rose to the front pages of the world's leading fashion magazines in the 1970s. Then, just as quickly, she disappeared from the public light and died an obscure, untimely death.

The biography explores her unstable relationship with her mother, her lesbian relationships, her vast drug use including heroin, and the ephemeral vacuity of a modeling career. Everyone was willing to photograph her for a photo show more spread, but no one was willing to get her help. That speaks as a moral indictment of the entire industry. The narrative also indicts President Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign that undercut any compassionate care for recovering drug addicts.

Gia was at once a superstar and a marginalized figure. She was both rich and tortured. The ever-present pain behind her eyes both tantalized the camera and drove an unstable life. The book reads like a journalist's account of her life and does not enter into much philosophical exploration of her life's meaning or of the inhumane treatment she gathered. But at least, it did memorialize her life so that obscurity and ignominy were not the last words. show less

Book in progress. I have been reading this book for nearly six years (no joke). I do not know why I can not finish it even though it is an excellent book. I think that I have not finished it because I am into fiction right now and not so much into bios and it is not for any reason relating to the quality of the book or the way that it is written. I think what prevents me from finishing this book is that I am well studied and have a lot of knowledge about the subject as well as seen the movie numerous times. Although I have seen the HBO movie "Gia" near a million times the book is much better because the movie leaves out facts, changes things around and is significantly less accurate than the book. I thought I knew about Gia from show more watching the movie but I knew next to nothing I found out after reading the book and doing research on the world wide web. The author did great research writing this biography and I recommend this book to anybody into fashion, models, drug abuse and aids or anyone just looking for a good read. show less

While entrenched in this sad and sometimes shocking story of a beautiful child living in a grownup world, suffering from borderline personality, losing herself to heroine and eventually dying of AIDS, I found myself truly affected by her tale. Although I was bored by some of the detail and gossip of the fashion world, the book shed a lot of light into Gia's larger than life existence and constant inner struggle with who she was, what others wanted her to be and what she needed. Love on ya, babe!

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This book brought me to laughter, tears, excitement, then to tears again. I wasn't expecting to feel such a connection with Gia. Yes some of the errors/typos in there got a little distracting, but overall it was a good book with lots of insight into the modelling industry and the family, romance, and friendships behind this beautiful, heartbreaking enigma that is Gia. At times I couldn't wait until this demanding novel ended, but was sad when I did get to the final page. Ultimately this is a sad story, and an eye-opener about what can happen when you play with fire (read: drugs). But if you are up for a wild, adventurous story, with everything from sex, rock n' roll, to AIDS, fame, and family drama, then this is the book for you.

While entrenched in this sad and sometimes shocking story of a beautiful child living in a grownup world, suffering from borderline personality, losing herself to heroine and eventually dying of AIDS, I found myself truly affected by her tale. Although I was bored by some of the detail and gossip of the fashion world, the book shed a lot of light into Gia's larger than life existence and constant inner struggle with who she was, what others wanted her to be and what she needed. Love on ya, babe!

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A truly tragic tale of a girl who could never be loved enough to be satisfied. Abandoned at the age of 11 by her mother, and then as an adult by her agent, Wilhelmina (who died of cancer), she turned to heroin for solace and eventually became one of the first women to be diagnosed with - and to die from - AIDS. A sad commentary of the business, that is well worth reading alongside Model, or Eileen Ford's book.

“here we are, without our families, totally out of our heads, and we don’t know where on earth we are. That was the feeling of the early seventies—nobody knew where they were.”
― Stephen Fried, Thing of Beauty

Given to me by a friend for a gift. I had seen a film on Gia, with Angelina Jolie playing the lead role.

In case, you have not hear d of her, Gia was..well Gia was beautiful. Truly beautiful. And she was a super model. She tragically died of AIDS.

I did enjoy reading this although it was very sad..heartbreaking actually. It gives you a look inside the world of modeling but really its focus is on Gia herself. I have to say the book was written so well and though I only gave it a three that is because of how bitterly sad it show more was.

I recommend the movie as well. show less