Rooney, a poet and author, also has spent many years as a professional nude model. She has posed for classes, amateur artists, individual painters, sculptors and photographers. In this series of essays, some published elsewhere, she gives her insights into the work. She notes that, unlike other jobs, she rarely has to deal with sexual harassment. Muscle spasms, chills and boredom are more common problems. As she tells anecdotes of her life as a model, interspersed with examples from literature, film and art history, Rooney reminds the reader that, as the model in Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George said, "There's a person here...." When the person is nude and on display, this is often ignored. Rooney brings the humanity back into the object of the model. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)