I finished "The Beautiful Fall" and I have to admit that I grew bored before I finished the book. It was interesting enough, I certainly have heard of many of the names involved, and being an avid reader of fashion magazines, I had vague inklings of some of the personalities, but otherwise it is a world completely beyond my ken — beyond my comprehension even. Perhaps it is true, I am too serious and too boring. That kind of life never appealed to me (although the clothes and jewels and pretty objects certainly do). Too bad that they so often seem to go hand in hand, the beautiful objects and the wild lifestyle.
It wasn’t really that the book was badly written, although I did think it took itself too seriously at times, and could have used a lighter hand, but that in the end I found the characters to grow tedious and I lost interest in them. A shame really.
However, in another take on the "fashion scene" I am now reading Penelope Rowland’s "A Dash of Daring" which is about Carmel Snow. This book is much more entertaining, certainly far better than the novel "The Devil Wore Prada" which was rather whiney. Carmel Snow is interesting and there are certain parallels between her career and personality and Miranda in the novel/movie. The book is also written in an entertaining, sometimes gossipy, style. I have trouble putting it down; it appeals to my sense of fashion, gossip, and has just enough snark to keep it entertaining, although the author does have a habit of interjecting parenthetical asides, which although sometimes useful, are used far too frequently. I keep sneaking moments with the book whenever I walk through the family room. A terrible temptation and distraction.