Heidi Klum's Body of Knowledge: 8 Rules of Model Behavior (to Help You Take Off on the Runway of Life) [Hardcover]

Heidi Klum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2004

Heidi Klum is one of the most famous supermodels in the world, but it took a lot more than above-average looks to get there. Growing up in a small town in Germany certainly didn’t prepare her for superstardom. After winning a national modeling contest she had entered on a lark, Heidi spent the next two years trying to catch a break in a business dominated by skinny waifs and big egos. Ignoring the skeptics and naysayers, at nineteen, she hopped a plane to the United States, where she tirelessly (and always optimistically) posed, strutted, networked, and laughed her way to the top.
Heidi learned a lot on the road to becoming a cultural icon—and fortunately she took notes along the way. In this funny, dishy, and highly practical book, she shares the secrets behind her success and shows how anyone can achieve their goals in work, love, and life:

• Pursue success long after any sane person would have given up
• Persuade others you have the chops to do whatever it is you’re going for
• Make people see you as you want to be seen
• Find your own unique style
• Create a strong, healthy body
• Tap into your seductive side
• Broaden your horizons by traveling the world
• Have a blast while it lasts

This informative romp is full of gorgeous photos from the top professional photographers in the fashion industry, personal pictures from Heidi’s own scrapbooks, behind-the-scenes stories about the modeling world, and helpful hints for achieving success. With her refreshing candor and effervescent style, Heidi offers dead-on advice that will resonate with anyone who has ever wanted more out of life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For this self-help book covering everything from health to work to sex, the supermodel best known as the face of Victoria’s Secret attempts to advise readers about their lives by explaining how she handled tricky situations in her own life. But Klum’s experiences, which range from watching the U.S. Open with Donald Trump to chatting awkwardly with Prince backstage at the Tonight Show, will be difficult for the average person to relate to. The basis for Klum’s "rules," such as "You Have to Want It, Baby (Desire)," "Be a Jet-Setter (Travel)" and "Make a Fashion Statement (Statement)," are certainly admirable. But Klum doesn’t explicate them nearly as much as she writes about her own life, making this book feel more like an authorized biography. Several celebrities Klum counts as friends provide interesting sidebars: Harvey Weinstein on how to break into the entertainment business, Michael J. Fox on how to find humor in any situation, etc. Klum’s fans will want the book for its photos alone, which include the infamous snapshot of her biting Evander Holyfield’s ear and a 43-page portfolio of her personal favorites. There are more practical self-help books on the shelves, but none have such beautiful photos and as many pages of fodder for celebrity enthusiasts.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

HEIDI KLUM is an internationally recognized model who has been featured in many top fashion magazines and prestigious campaigns, including a long-running association with Victoria’s Secret. Her career has also branched out to encompass numerous creative and business ventures, including fine jewelry, perfume, shoe, swimwear, and clothing lines. Heidi has also acted in and hosted many film and television projects. She lives in New York City. You can visit Heidi at www.heidiklum.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Crown (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400050286
• ISBN-13: 978-1400050284
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #420,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Real Skinny on Heidi's Book, December 22, 2004

By 

Michael A. Moran (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heidi Klum's Body of Knowledge: 8 Rules of Model Behavior (to Help You Take Off on the Runway of Life) (Hardcover)

I found the reviews below a bit confusing, and when I'd finished reading them I was not at all sure I wanted this book. But I bought it in spite of reservations and I'm glad I did. The book is 200 pages long. About 50-60 pages are text. Of that text fewer than ten pages are by other people. So figure you get 50 pages of writing by HEIDI with her assistant Alexandra Postman. I don't mind the use of a writer. All writers need editors, and non-writers need a writer to help them get the point across - particularly in a second language. There are places in the writing where it is very clear that Heidi was writing, and others where it is clear that Alexandra was. Heidi has a distinct writing style - most people do - and I wish that had been preserved a bit more. That's why the one star off.

Now to the content. First let me say that I am a photographer, and have used models in my work for about as long as Heidi has been modeling. There is a lot of good advice on modeling in here. And plenty that an aspiring model should be aware of. Some is practicle "Be on time", "Watch your mood". This is stuff people can actually do, that helps a lot. Some of it is not advice but stuff want to be models really need to know: casting calls with 200 girls (sometimes many more), *thousands* of calls before you get a paying job - even if you look like HEIDI, in the first two years you pay to get tested, the price was $200 for her ten years ago, but the better photographers are charging $400+ these days. And you need to do this at least once a week, both to build your book, and most importantly to get experience in front of the camera. Finally there is the advice the book intends to give you, it's motivational and inspirational and involves deep aspects of a persons personality. This is the problem. Heidi is describing her own natural traits which make her the person and celebrity she is. Few people have her drive, ambition, and endless optimism. You can try and develop these traits to the extent you have them. But most people (especially 19 year old models struggling to make it in hyper-competitive New York) will be asking themselves "How do I make myself more optimistic?" Much of HEIDI's advice is like Kurt Vonnegut's "We are what we pretend to be, so we might as well get good at it". Which is good advice for a shoot. But for a young woman in the dark of night who's been shot down eight times that day with comments like "Hips to big", "Uuuhhh, look at that nose", "She'll never do", "No breasts!" pretending to be optimistic is not a realistic choice. I wonder if Heidi's been pretending for so long she no longer remembers what it's like not to be HEIDI, or not to pretend.

I still like her, she is still smart, funny, and likeable - even if that is a bit of a put on at times. There is plenty of material worth reading here. But you have to read closely. Because the value is not in the "8 rules of model behavior", it's in the real Heidi who squeaks out between the lines.

(...)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is the type of book you flip through in a bookstore.., January 25, 2005

By 

Carly Rae (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heidi Klum's Body of Knowledge: 8 Rules of Model Behavior (to Help You Take Off on the Runway of Life) (Hardcover)

Heidi Klum has so much personality and spunk and none of it found its way to the pages of this book. I was mildly disappointed, I was hoping for the best. Her current job - as host and executive producer of Project Runway on Bravo networks is brilliant, where is any of that in this book?

I was so bored I ended up reading her book in less than thirty minutes. The pictures are fun to see and her lists of what to do in order to be a model may be helpful to those looking for that type of insight. I was looking for a refreshed interpretation of a model's life. On the bright side, it is better than Paris Hilton's book!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Advice on Life and People, December 9, 2004

By 

Garrett (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heidi Klum's Body of Knowledge: 8 Rules of Model Behavior (to Help You Take Off on the Runway of Life) (Hardcover)

Yes, the book is light on words and heavy on pictures, but the few words go right to the core of the topic: how to succeed in life and be happy.

Heidi give you her advice, and the advice of many others, on the art of enjoying life and helping others enjoy their own lives. If more people applied her simple, yet profound, rules, the world would be a much better place.

Overall, it's an enjoyable, quick read which, if taken to heart, will help anyone be what they want to be and be a better person.