I used to watch America’s Next Top Model for the last 10-15 minutes where the judges (ALT was one at one point) would analyze the photos and point out amazingly slight differences. I knew these people related to the visual world in a totally different way and a way that was shaping fashion and advertising and thereby all of us to some degree whether we knew it or not.
I also was an avid reader of Vogue in the 90’s and early 2000s when ALT was writing. I remember his articles from then, but never really looked into who he was.
With a similar interest to that in ANTM, I was interested in seeing how he related to the world. Remembering what someone wore 35 years ago is remarkable. His mind is so attuned to the visual and sartorial, it is amazing. This is his life. The heavier topics that would normally fill tortured pages upon pages of a usual memoir are stated and discussed simply. I admit I took some time to warm up to the book, but by the end, I found it fascinating to see the balance between fashion and his personal trials and the way he discussed each. His acceptance of who he is through his negative experiences was surprising since we have come to expect stories of triumph. But his triumph comes through fashion and the fashion world. For me, the telling of the story was as much of the story as the actual events. I think I got the insight I wanted into the mind of a person who broke into a world he was definitely not born into and how he did so successfully.