Here She Comes…Beauty Queen
by Elissa Stein
Chronicle Books
In 121 pages, Elissa Stein attempts to explain the history of beauty queen pagents and the allure they have on the world. With the use of beautiful photos, spanning over generations and a foreword by a previous Miss America winner, Lee Meriwether, Stein hope to explain the fascination people have with the idea of a beauty queen.
The book is beautifully bound, bursting with various photos of pagents (both large and small) from various generations. Stein incorporates lists to help readers understand the various aspects of a pagent contestant. There are lists of possible questions one can be asked, a list of what to pack, a list of talents (including those that have been banned) and various other lists–all which will come in handy if I ever decide to pick up a baton and run for beauty queen.
I must say, Stein did her research. Weaved through out the book are various random facts about pagents (like who was actually the first person to be called “Miss America”); most of the information, though, seems pointless to include. A lot of things in here seemed rather explanatory, even to a person like myself who has never had experience nor do I know anyone who has.
The book will probably be appealing to those who are interested by beauty pagents and the like. However, for people who have little or no interest, the book becomes a fast read with just a bunch of pretty photos.
