Scan barcode
A review by chaosandbooks
Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier by Marisa Meltzer
funny
informative
slow-paced
4.0
I went into this knowing nothing about Glossier and came out really fascinated. I read this right after reading youthjuice by E. K. Sathue because I felt like they would be a perfect pairing. First of all, I was absolutely right.
This offers a snapshot at the myth behind Glossier's creator Emily Weiss and how this massive brand became what it is today. Sprinkled throughout are testimonies of former employees who both love and hate the company and Weiss, but nonetheless credit her for being a force to be reckoned with.
I saw some of the negative reviews going into this book. The author clearly spent a lot of time deep diving to leave no stones unturned; but that was also what kept me so engrossed. Do I think the author knew she had some piping hot tea and ran with it? Sure. But every single one of your favorite companies ultimately has skeletons in their closet no matter how squeaky clean they present themselves as. As a former journalist, I really admire the amount of research and obvious hours of work the author put into creating this. She also undoubtedly paints a picture of Emily as an eccentric genius, not in the way Gwyneth Paltrow is with Goop, but in the way all the boys club CEOs are. She gives credit where it's due and strings the readers along for some saucy, resentful comments from disgruntled former employees as we go. Literacy is a skill and if the reader can't discern bias from sources to fully flesh out a timeline of a company's history, that's on them and not the author. Nobody watches The Social Network and shits all over the scriptwriters for portraying what happened. Hell this book actually made me interested in buying Glossier.
This offers a snapshot at the myth behind Glossier's creator Emily Weiss and how this massive brand became what it is today. Sprinkled throughout are testimonies of former employees who both love and hate the company and Weiss, but nonetheless credit her for being a force to be reckoned with.
I saw some of the negative reviews going into this book. The author clearly spent a lot of time deep diving to leave no stones unturned; but that was also what kept me so engrossed. Do I think the author knew she had some piping hot tea and ran with it? Sure. But every single one of your favorite companies ultimately has skeletons in their closet no matter how squeaky clean they present themselves as. As a former journalist, I really admire the amount of research and obvious hours of work the author put into creating this. She also undoubtedly paints a picture of Emily as an eccentric genius, not in the way Gwyneth Paltrow is with Goop, but in the way all the boys club CEOs are. She gives credit where it's due and strings the readers along for some saucy, resentful comments from disgruntled former employees as we go. Literacy is a skill and if the reader can't discern bias from sources to fully flesh out a timeline of a company's history, that's on them and not the author. Nobody watches The Social Network and shits all over the scriptwriters for portraying what happened. Hell this book actually made me interested in buying Glossier.