This image was lost some time after publication.

Yes, there's a clutch of new TV shows about fashion and models, but supposing you're a more cerebral type who prefers to get your fix of backstage catfights, diva-ish designers and general industry sleaze from reading? Eighties supermodel Carol Alt would love you to pick up a copy of her autobiographical novel, This Year's Model, which follows the adventures of a wholesome young woman from New Jersey as she navigates the treacherous waters of modeling while keeping her "dignity intact," only briefly slipping off the straight and narrow by accidentially ingesting some hash brownies.

Alt says the only reason she wrote the book is to teach girls that they don't "have to go along with whatever's happening in order to get a job or be famous." If only such a book had been around in Kate and Naomi's day! Entire Colombian coca fields would have gone unfarmed. And a string of immigrant domestics would remain unassaulted.

Carol Alt's 'This Year's Model' Is Required Runway Reading [NYDN]