Kameleon Man was written by Kim Brunhuber, who those of using Canada know from hosting the CBC nightly news show The National. I found a stack of new trade paperbacks, first edition, beside the cash desk, marked down to $7.00. Why? I wondered, as I bought a copy. It turns out that after it was published in 2003, and was a finalist for the Relit Award and the Ottawa Book Award, the publisher Beach Holme went out of business. It's now distributed by Dundurn. Guess I got a Beach Holme castoff.
Kim used to be a model in Toronto, and although it's not autobiographical (he's serious), that is the world in which Kameleon Man takes place.
Moving from Nepean to Toronto to make it as a male model, Stacey Schmidt gets a taste of high fashion, higher stakes, sex, glamour, and great clothes, when he's suddenly propelled from suburban model hell to the garment jungle of today's Toronto.
Kameleon Jeans is a big account and the guy models in town are clawing at one another to become the company's new face and body. Stacey manages to snag it and while it seems like a ticket to fame and fortune, things take a twist and he ends up travelling Europe, getting back to his love of photography and ending up in Spain. Of course there's the drug running as well, but I'll let Stacey tell you about that.
It seemed like an insider's romp through the fashion world, but as he described walking the streets of Toronto, and simple things like searching for an apartment, I thought he was really lonely. Always looking in from the outside, and not really sure if he even wants to go in. I've read other fashion romps and they are usually gay in the old fashioned sense of the word and filled with shoes! drama! glitz! so maybe this one threw my expectations. The last third of the book, once he gets to Europe, I thought went off in too many directions. Often it seemed like it should be another book, or rather, the main portion of the book. Not enough going on in the first part, and so much going on in the second that it seemed there wasn't time to absorb the changes.
Still, I enjoyed it, and would recommend it. Sorry Kim if you are reading this, that I didn't pay full price, but think of all those books still being sold and read!
2003 / Paperback / 296 pages
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