Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object

This is a superb book. Ms Rooney has compiled a reference book detailing her own candid experiences with an excellent potted history of the Life modelling industry. As a life model myself, it is very easy to identify with most of which she speaks about. I am recommending this book to any aspiring life mode, tutor and those who enjoy life drawing. A quite brilliant read.

Help! Help! I am the mind of a subject trapped inside the body of an object. Kathleen Rooney has written a delightful book that is good enough to be taken playfully, rather than seriously. If you actually believe the lie that reveals the truth, rather than merely living the lie, you'll understand what I mean by that.One of the other reviewers complained that the book is too erudite, or has too many facts, or something like that. To that, I'd offer three observations. One, all that trivia sugarcoats some pretty thoughtful observations and makes them go down more easily. Two, you can take the girl out of graduate school but you can't take graduate school out of the woman--the manuscript was published by a university press, for God's sake. And, three, it's fun catching her where she is wrong.In short, LNG--My Life as an Object is a real gas, and good enough that I think I'll read something else she's written to see if she makes as much sense with her clothes on as she does with her clothes off.

A fascinating memoir, this. I have to admit being intrigued about the life of a nude model. I've often thought that I'd make a good model myself--not that I'm particular interesting to look at, but rather that I'd be very good at occupying my mind while holding still for long stretches, which seems to be a very important quality for a nude model. And, of course, I have enough of an exhibitionist streak to be willing to take my clothes off for an art class. But, despite Ms. Rooney's repeated assurance that art classes want models of all shapes and sizes, she can't hide the fact that the thin and beautiful are the most desired, and I certainly don't fit into those categories. Ah, brief mourning for a career opportunity missed.Being thin and attractive herself, Ms. Rooney has no problem establishing her career by doing nothing more than answering an ad from a local art class, and expanding her work from there. She takes us through her learning curve as a model: what is required during a session, how to prepare and how to make it through comfortably. That alone would have made for good reading, but she is willing to dig deeper.She gives us bits of history as she tells her story, taking us to the Greek roots of modeling as well as the artist/model/mistress paradigm of Western art. This is almost a distraction, however, from the examination of the different relationships she has a model. Though she doesn't always address things directly, we learn a lot from the varied experiences she has with public art classes vs. private sessions, sculptors and painters vs. photographers, pros vs. amateurs, male artists vs. female artists, and so on. Clearly, there is no single expectation a model can have.Fortunately, Ms. Rooney has had a wide career, has meditated on much of it and is willing to share what she has learned. I think she has been lucky in many ways, having had such a generally positive experience. But this is not a career one finds on the checklists one fills out for high school counselors and Ms. Rooney cannot hide the "forbidden" aspect of it. Even she refuses to tell her parents and friends what she does for a long time. On the other hand, though there is no reason for her to be embarrassed about modeling, its exclusion from what would be considered a normal, acceptable job is part of what makes her memoir worth reading. So is the fact that she has the writing skill to make the most of her experiences.

I have been a model for drawing and painting classes since 1984, so I was really interested in reading a fellow model's point of view regarding the profession. It is amazing how many parallels there are between the author's experiences and my own, especially in areas that brought us to modeling in the first place. Of course, I'm male, and the author is female, so our experiences differed quite a bit in certain areas. I usually only work for classes or groups while the author expanded into working with individual artists.The book is full of anecdotes about the history of art modeling, specific classroom incidents, feelings regarding posing for a new group or artist, and what it's like to drop the robe for the first time. Once I finished, I immediately contacted a fellow art model with whom I have worked before and told her that she really ought to read this book. I'll be loaning it to her the next time I see her.And on a personal note, another interesting parallel: the book was published by the University of Arkansas Press. I began my modeling career at that very university back in November of 1984...

I am a photograpaher who works extensively with nude models. I find that this book has given me insights into my work from the model's point of view and has made me a better photographer. I also have given copies of the book to a number of the models with whom I've worked to help them understand their profession better. It is a tremendous work which helps in a sorely misunderstood profession.

As an art model I could relate to this well written, easy to read work. Eloquent, insightful and relatable-highly recommend.