Living // "Gunn's Golden Rules" by Tim Gunn book review

I was really excited to start reading this book at the beginning of the month because “Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work” by Tim Gunn could not fit more perfectly into the idea of a bright new year. 

However, once I started reading I was slightly disappointed. With chapters like “Don’t Abuse Your Power – or surrender it” and “Niceties are Nice” and “When You Need Help, Get It,” this book was almost too generalized for my tastes.

The book, in my opinion, is more autobiographical and conversational than I was expecting. It reads like you’re sitting at brunch swapping stories with Tim Gunn, not to say that’s a bad thing, but again, wasn’t quite what I was expecting. 

A great thing about the book though is that it really reinforces the genuinely good heart Tim Gunn displays on Project Runway and his various talk show appearances. It’s refreshing to see a good person who really wants others to be the best version of them.

However, like I said, I was a bit disappointed with how generalized some of the advice was in the book. 

I think it’s great that he’s urging people to be nicer and kinder to each other – hold the door open, say “excuse me,” send a thank-you note, but I would have appreciated some more concrete examples than just stories from his life.

For instance, he was blocked in by a group of carts at the grocery store and instead of exploding simply said “excuse me.” Yes, that is the correct response but I was hoping for advice such as “After an interview you should send a quick thank you e-mail to the interviewer that says X, Y, and Z.” 

Granted each example and story he gives reinforces the idea to be nicer, but it just seemed too obvious at times. Perhaps, that’s what is wrong in this world sometimes though is that being nice isn’t obvious to people.

If you love Tim Gunn and the fashion world, though, I’d definitely recommend this book. It is full of stories not only about Tim Gunn’s life, which is great to see him on the other side, but also about high profile faces such as Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Talley and even Martha Stewart (Who knew she had such an attitude!?). 

Overall though, the message is clear, Tim Gunn really does care about people and want us to be our best versions of ourselves and who can’t love someone who rallies for you?

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