Robertson's Reads - Biographies / Style Icons

At first I was skeptical when I started reading Kelly Cutrone's book, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You, because I really didn't think I could glean a whole lot of information from this hardcover that would be applicable to my own journey. So, I picked it up to read more as a form of entertainment than enlightenment.

Consider me corrected, and pleasantly surprised. Within the first two pages, I found myself hooked. This book reads so easily, and though I've already heard much of what Cutrone has to say, her voice is what kept me reading. She's brutally honest, completely outspoken, and totally inspiring. Whether she's sharing about her fancy-free first years in New York City, or about her professional prowess and how she climbed the corporate ladder to create and control one of the world's most powerful PR firms - and first-ever fashion PR firm, wha! - Cutrone delivers an untraditional and entirely refreshing guide to self-confidence and success.

If You Have to Cry, Go Outside is broken down into 9 relatively short chapters, each of which contains honest and often-humourous anecdotes and footnotes, and the occasional list (with catchy titles such as "Everything Good Happens After 30"). At the end of the book is a fantastic Q&A called "Kelly Cutrone Speaks" where the woman herself answers some serious and not-so-serious questions sent in by fans.

Definitely my favourite how-to book for 2010 (and yes, I'm aware it's only May), Kelly Cutrone's If You Have to Cry, Go Outside is an inspired guide to self-styled, sweet success - no matter what your career field of choice.

_{If You Have to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone, $18.50 CDN, Amazon}