Book Review by Lizabeth Nieves
No Lifeguard on Duty:
The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel
By Janice Dickinson
Regan Books/Harper Collins
$24.95
Janice Dickinson is often remembered for two things. Helping to change
the standard of beauty in the modeling world with her smoldering dark
good looks and publicly accusing Sylvester Stallone of fathering her
child and insisting on a DNA test that came up negative. No Lifeguard
on Duty is a wild roller coaster ride. Her life starts at the bottom-
the first chapter is brutal with an abusive incestuous father, escaping
to NYC from Florida at age 17 starts her ascent into super stardom and
drug abuse.
The novel is entertaining and a quick read- Ms. Dickinson's personality
comes though loud and clear. Ambitiously pushing forward, she is photographed
by Avedon, Penn and Beard and slept with Stallone, Willis, Jagger and
Neeson. Namedropping is key here- the pages are filled with a whose
who of seventies and eighties celebrities. Studio 54 enthusiasts will
enjoy the insider's view. Who knew that Steven Rubell liked to bring
home young men and romp naked in bed with money from the night before?
All other emotional issues are glossed over a bit too quickly, the
incest, estranged family and drug and alcohol abuse but perhaps this
is how Ms. Dickinson survived the madness- "Hey I'm just a shallow happy
girl and you get on with your happy shallow life".
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