Book Reviews: If You Have To Cry, Go Outside AND OTHER THINGS YOUR MOTHER NEVER TOLD YOU

Judging this book by its cover, you prepare to be bitch-slapped into Kelly Cutrone's reality where black is king and stupid interns are rampant. The introduction, however, sets us up for a chakra-balancing zen fest more than a high-strung, high-powered bitch fest. Even Kelly calls attention to the unexpected beginning. If you're not put off by the Kumbaya -like message, than you'll be rewarded in the first chapter.

When you pull back the layers to Kelly, you discover fun facts about her childhood and her first breakdown/breakthrough. For one, she shares her hometown with Frank L. Baum. Naturally, she compares her journey to NYC to Dorothy's road to Oz; "I too met gloriously eclectic comrades along the way," says Kelly. The first time Kelly would come to visit NYC would be her last, as the next trip would semi-permanently affix her to the lower east's dark side.

Kelly was intuitive enough at sixteen to know where she needed to plant her seed. She didn't have a clue what a publicist did - or even that a job title like that existed. She reveals that even her family thinks she's in publishing, not fashion PR.

Like most who come to the city to manifest a dream, Kelly was kicked to the gutter repeatedly and even bottomed-out in a Broadway hotel room by the time she was "skinny enough for suicide in the bathtub." Her "eclectic comrades" would save her until Kelly realized she had to save herself by leaving the city she loved to discover a new layer to her being.

Kelly practiced tarot card reading on Venice Beach, CA until one day she was led back into public relations after a used-clothing store solicited her NYC expertise. After engaging in the metaphysical, Kelly emerged from the west coast a public relations shaman with attitude.

When Kelly returned to NYC, she had the experience and life-skills to know what she wanted, how to get it and how to help others discover their dreams along the way - even if it's not in fashion. And, that's where the title of the book comes in to play. Not everyone who comes to work for Kelly Cutrone at People's Revolution will end up with a permanent position within the company or even the entire industry. Kelly has the power to separate the players from the pack. In fact, Kelly refers to her team as a "wolf pack," building a hierarchy of seniority that distributes powers like being the first to eat and retreat.

Kelly Cutrone, leader of her wolf pack, sister to all women and dominatrix of the fashion world, tells all in her book as she brings to life friends, mentors and employees who are now famous icons and powerful "bitches."

Normally typesetting and editing aren't critical to reviews, but the editing team at Harper One did a great job with this book. Meredith Bryan, the co-author, stayed true to Kelly's voice and appropriately footnoted the oddities in Kelly's life that just couldn't be paraphrased. The author Q & A at the end of the book was also a nice touch.