Review: "How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone" by Cameron Russell

How to Make Herself Agreeable to Everyone by Cameron Russell
Published March 2024 via Random House
★★★★

Russell had the sort of trajectory that aspiring models dream of—fast, meteoric. But it was a career that she stumbled into rather than one that she sought out, and the longer she spent in front of cameras and in modelling agencies—to say nothing of being in bars with men twice her age, or in photographers' cars, or generally at the whim of men with some degree of power—the better she understood the unspoken costs and imbalances, and the more complicit she started to feel.

On the surface this is a book about modelling, but dig down a very thin layer and it becomes something about power, and abuse of power, and an industry—and society—hell-bent on keeping that power in the hands of White men. Throughout the book, as Russell learns more and more about the industry in which she has found herself, she is taught that innocence is so sexy that it must be destroyed, and she might be getting paid tens of thousands of dollars but her worth is such that she can be thrown away at any moment, and that the only things about her that matters are the ideals that men project upon her. And: that if you're successful enough, and smart enough, and keep your eyes open enough, you might be able to open some other eyes as well.

Russell has made waves before, and this book feels like something that will reverberate. She doesn't name names (although in some cases it's very easy to go run a quick search or two), but she's not pulling punches, either. Photographers call me jailbait. One invites me to drinks. Eventually, I find my body in a bed next to him. Not myself: A lot of myself will be surprisingly gone by then. (loc. 112*) She employs a number of structural choices that can easily fall flat (lists, sections addressed to certain real-life people), but she's more than enough of a writer to pull them off. I expect to hear this one talked about, to see it on a lot of lists this year.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for inviting me to read an advance copy through NetGalley.