No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

by Paulina Porizkova

Overview

“A book about a rare life, profound love, profound grief, anxiety, self-assurance, empowerment, aging, loss, and joy. It is nuanced, complex, insightful, helpful, and constantly surprising.” —Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of These Precious Days

Writer and former model Paulina Porizkova pens a series of intimate, introspective, and enlightening essays about the complexities of womanhood at every age, pulling back the glossy magazine cover and writing from the heart.

AN OPEN FIELD PUBLICATION FROM MARIA SHRIVER

Born in Cold War Czechoslovakia, Paulina Porizkova rose to prominence as a model, appearing on her first Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover in 1984.  As the face of Estée Lauder in 1989, she was one of the highest-paid models in the world. When she was cast in the music video for the song “Drive” by The Cars, it was love at first sight for her and frontman Ric Ocasek. He was forty at the time, and Porizkova was nineteen. The decades to come would bring marriage, motherhood, a budding writing career; and later sadness, loneliness, isolation, and eventually divorce. Following her ex-husband’s death—and the revelation of a deep betrayal—Porizkova stunned fans with her fierce vulnerability and disarming honesty as she let the whole world share in her experience of being a woman who must start over.
 
This is a wise and compelling exploration of heartbreak, grief, beauty, aging, relationships, re-invention and finding your purpose. In these essays, Porizkova bares her soul and shares the lessons she’s learned—often the hard way. After a lifetime of being looked at, she is ready to be heard.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593493526
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Paulina Porizkova is a Czechoslovak-born writer. A former model, she was the first central European woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue in 1984. In 1988, she became one of the highest-paid models in the world as the face of Estée Lauder. She has starred in sixteen movies and a slew of TV shows as an actress, and she served as part of the judging panel on cycle 10 of America’s Next Top Model. Her debut novel, A Model Summer, was published in 2007. This is her nonfiction debut.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

The Crying Lady on Instagram 1

We Were Always Called Girls 11

Beauty and the Beast 19

Childhood 29

The Nature of Beauty 41

Falling in Love 49

Knowing the Future 61

Height 73

Magical Money 85

The Responsibility of Beauty 97

Fame 105

Grief and Betrayal 115

Heartbreak 129

Real Money 139

Shock 153

Courage 161

Nude, Not Naked 169

Medicated 181

Occupied 189

Every Woman is Beautiful 199

Fate and Choice 209

Acknowledgments 219

Editorial Reviews

2022-09-14
An iconic supermodel offers insights into lessons learned from a life that has been anything but perfect.

Porizkova (b. 1965) ruled the catwalks in the 1980s and ’90s, but the hard truths behind her rise to fame and marriage to Ric Ocasek were buried under the outward glamour. In this collection of essays, she speaks candidly about a difficult childhood that included living as a Czech political refugee in Sweden, where, as a bullied teenager, she “frequently felt ugly” and endured her “flaws [being] discussed before me as though I couldn’t hear what they said.” Even when she began earning money as a model, high anxiety levels caused daily panic attacks. Her relationship with Ocasek began in youthful blindness. She could not see that the still-married musician’s demands—that she wear less revealing clothes, give up her gay male friends, and put his career and needs above hers—were symptomatic of the possessive behavior she accepted—and even cherished—because it made her feel she was “home.” The author writes that Ocasek was like a Russian tank, an occupying force she greeted with “flowers and cheers.” Growing older brought clarity regarding an increasingly troubled personal life and the fact that her looks had transformed her from a real person into an object. It also forced her to confront the fears that drove her to seek small procedures like eye lifts to fight not only the loss of beauty, but also increasing social invisibility as a woman. Ocasek’s sudden death and his claim, written in his will, that she “abandoned” him, drove Porizkova into a painful period of litigation and soul-searching from which she emerged determined to “be heard” for who she was rather than as the “manufactured image” into which she had been made. The occasional repetitiveness and fairly haphazard organization of these essays make the book feel unpolished, but its raw honesty will appeal to Porizkova’s many fans.

A flawed but well-intentioned self-examination.

Kirkus Reviews

One of TIME’s 10 New Books You Should Read in November
One of Good Morning America’s November Books to Pack for the Holidays
One of the New York Post’s 28 Books You’ll Want to Read This Fall

“Porizkova is uniquely positioned to write about the beauty industry, the fetishization of youth, aging in the public eye, and yes, feminism. No Filter consists of a series of essays covering everything from an increasingly toxic marriage to honesty online.”
—TIME

“I absolutely loved this heartfelt memoir by former model Paulina Porizkova. Like anyone who was around in the ’80s and ’90s, I knew who Porizkova was (and her husband, Ric Ocasek, of the Cars). But it turns out I knew absolutely nothing about her. . . . Here is a woman who has considered aging, life, love, friendship, loss, and everything important. Here is a woman whom I would want to be friends with. Memoirs like No Filter that really let the reader in are a true gift.”
—Good Morning America

“Porizkova’s new book of essays, No Filter, gives readers a longer, deeper glance into her life’s events and innermost workings. A heartfelt meditation on everything a woman can go through in her life—a successful career, raising a family, loss and tragedy, and betrayal—the memoir is as revealing as it is relatable.” 
—Shondaland

“No Filter is a study in the concept of ‘both/and’ . . . The memoir truly comes alive—in style and substance—when Porizkova smashes the facade of her glamorous marriage to Ocasek. . . . Porizkova walks a delicate line, capturing their complicated marriage and its many conflicting truths.”
—New York Times

“Model Paulina Porizkova reflects on the privilege that comes with being beautiful—and the obligation to wield it virtuously.”
—Harper’s Bazaar

“Paulina Porizkova explores how complicated aging can be, and how even supermodels sometimes find it tough to grapple with what they see in the mirror.”
—Katie Couric Media

“She has become a voice for her generation thanks to her candor and vulnerability on social media, and now, Paulina Porizkova is pulling the layers back even further in her book, No Filter. The collection of nonfiction essays . . . is a way for the 57-year-old SI Swimsuit model to bare her soul even more. . . . [Porizkova] touches on love, heartbreak, and reinvention.”
—Sports Illustrated

“Her book, aptly titled No Filter: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful, is meant to feel like ‘a companion for you in recognizing aspects of yourself.’ It not only tackles the physical experience of aging but the real-life indignities that all women face as they get on in years, from grief to shame to betrayal.”
—The Cut

“Women in Hollywood have started a movement when it comes to aging. They are tossing out ageist societal standards and ushering in a fresh perspective on how great life is at 40, 50, 60, and beyond. Leading the way is supermodel Paulina Porizkova, whose new book, No Filter, discusses her decision to lean into the power of her age on not only a physical level, but also an emotional level.”
—SheKnows

“In No Filter, [Porizkova is] delving deeper. A collection of essays on marriage, motherhood, heartbreak and so much more, the book, she says, is meant to serve as solace for those who need it.”
—Next Avenue

“No Filter is a book about a rare life, profound love, profound grief, anxiety, self-assurance, empowerment, aging, loss, and joy. It is nuanced, complex, insightful, helpful, and constantly surprising. Do you think you know what kind of book a super model writes? Think again. Paulina Porizkova is in the business of defying expectations.”
—Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of These Precious Days

“I remained contentedly awake all through the night reading this book. Totally absorbed, sighing appreciatively. If you grew up already having an affinity for Paulina Porizkova, you will close this book with a smile, knowing she is even more remarkable than you thought. Porizkova is a brilliant writer and generous memoirist of a dazzling and fractured fairy tale life. It is when the fairy tale turns Grimm that Porizkova reveals the true depth of her innocence and wisdom. Whether you are someone who welcomes love at the front door, or someone who thinks to enter through the chimney first, you will be heartened to be living and aging in the time of Paulina Porizkova. I love this book.”
—Selma Blair, New York Times bestselling author of Mean Baby

“Porizkova’s obvious physical gifts are breathtaking, but her hidden gifts of the spirit are transformative. She is clearly beautiful, gracious, and elegant, but it is her rigorous honesty, poetic sensibility, and courage that strike to the heart and soul. As we encounter the vagaries of aging, we look for role models—not just models—and she is a powerful force for self-acceptance, a willingness to sit with pain and loss, and truth-telling.”
—Rosanne Cash, New York Times bestselling author of Composed

“A candid retrospective about what Porizkova has learned and the many things she wishes she had known earlier. An honest and engaging writer, Porizkova comes across as wise, experienced, and relatable.”
—Booklist (starred review)

From the Publisher