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Inside
"INSIDE opens with the art director of a high-gloss shelter magazine finding the body of its editor-in-chief—a death by poisoning. But INSIDE isn't a murder mystery. It's a biography of a magazine—one called INSIDE. Not only does Ross show exactly how a well-toned magazine is put together, he presents a slew of characters—decorators, photographers, editors, lovers—who would be glad the editor-in-chief is dead.…Coolly observed, funny and touching." —Andrew Holleran, author of Dancer from the Dance"Funny, gossipy, bitchy and oh so true, Ross's remarkably accomplished debut novel not only gets every detail of what it is like working at a successful trade magazine, he dramatizes the unimaginably petty jealousies and deviousness realistically and compellingly. INSIDE is The Devil Wears Prada of the decorating world." —Felice Picano, author of Art & Sex in Greenwich Village
332 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
August 31, 2026
Charles L. Ross's Inside came highly recommended to me through comparisons to The Devil Wears Prada crossed with Architectural Digest. As someone who genuinely loves both, the cutthroat glamour of the publishing world and the aspirational beauty of interior design, it sounded tailormade for my bookshelf.
And in many respects, it delivered.
The real triumph of this novel is the world Ross creates. The magazine world of Inside feels alive. The behind-the-scenes workings of a high-end design publication are fascinating, and Ross writes them with an insider's confidence that makes even the technical details compelling. Photo shoots carry tension and excitement. Editorial decisions matter. If you have any affection for magazines from the 1970s and 1980s: their excess, ambition, and larger-than-life personalities, there is much here to enjoy.
The characters are equally well drawn. They possess distinct voices, habits, and flaws. Rather than serving as simple archetypes, they emerge as rounded individuals whose motivations and mannerisms become increasingly clear as the story unfolds. The protagonist in particular, remains engaging enough that I wanted to follow him to the very end.
However, this is also a book that comes with significant caveats.
Inside at time can be a slog of a novel, at one point in the novel the protagonist and the editor-in-chief has a conversation on which people to feature in the magazine, it slogs through the dialogue, mentioning each one and a shot response.
Ok, so now for the kicker this is emphatically not a "less is more" novel. Readers hoping for discretion, subtlety, or a fade-to-black approach to adult material will not find it here. Ross writes explicitly and in considerable detail. For me, the sheer volume of adult content often distracted from what I considered the book's strongest qualities: its rich world-building, memorable characters, and fascinating depiction of magazine life.
There were also elements I found genuinely troubling. One particular character's storyline involving youth and sexuality left me deeply uncomfortable. Interestingly, a review from a reputable source describes the character as being one age, but my reading of the novel suggested the character was considerably younger and that the age gap involved was significantly wider. These scenes proved difficult to read. My best guess is that the author intended to reflect attitudes and environments associated with an earlier era, even though the novel itself was published in 2019. Regardless of that intention, I struggled with the decision to approach the material as explicitly as it was presented. Whenever this character appeared, I found myself moving through those sections quickly in order to return to the aspects of the novel I had genuinely been enjoying.
And that's perhaps the most frustrating part of Inside: beneath the distractions is a novel I truly admired.
I loved its sense of place. I loved its affection for design and publishing. I loved being immersed in this glamorous, ambitious world of editors, photographers, decorators, and deadlines. The murder mystery itself almost becomes secondary to the intoxicating portrait of a bygone creative industry, for me.
In the end, I find myself conflicted. I can't wholeheartedly recommend Inside to everyone, nor is it a book I would casually hand to a friend without qualification. Yet I also can't dismiss it. Ross created a world I genuinely wanted to inhabit, populated it with some characters I wanted to understand, and kept me turning pages because I needed to know how it all ended.
For readers fascinated by the intersection of magazine publishing, interior design, and the excesses of the 1970s and 1980s, Inside offers a vivid and engrossing experience. Just know what you're walking into: this is a stylish, sharply observed novel whose considerable strengths are, at least for this reader, frequently overshadowed by choices that ultimately detracted from the story it told so well.
And in many respects, it delivered.
The real triumph of this novel is the world Ross creates. The magazine world of Inside feels alive. The behind-the-scenes workings of a high-end design publication are fascinating, and Ross writes them with an insider's confidence that makes even the technical details compelling. Photo shoots carry tension and excitement. Editorial decisions matter. If you have any affection for magazines from the 1970s and 1980s: their excess, ambition, and larger-than-life personalities, there is much here to enjoy.
The characters are equally well drawn. They possess distinct voices, habits, and flaws. Rather than serving as simple archetypes, they emerge as rounded individuals whose motivations and mannerisms become increasingly clear as the story unfolds. The protagonist in particular, remains engaging enough that I wanted to follow him to the very end.
However, this is also a book that comes with significant caveats.
Inside at time can be a slog of a novel, at one point in the novel the protagonist and the editor-in-chief has a conversation on which people to feature in the magazine, it slogs through the dialogue, mentioning each one and a shot response.
Ok, so now for the kicker this is emphatically not a "less is more" novel. Readers hoping for discretion, subtlety, or a fade-to-black approach to adult material will not find it here. Ross writes explicitly and in considerable detail. For me, the sheer volume of adult content often distracted from what I considered the book's strongest qualities: its rich world-building, memorable characters, and fascinating depiction of magazine life.
There were also elements I found genuinely troubling. One particular character's storyline involving youth and sexuality left me deeply uncomfortable. Interestingly, a review from a reputable source describes the character as being one age, but my reading of the novel suggested the character was considerably younger and that the age gap involved was significantly wider. These scenes proved difficult to read. My best guess is that the author intended to reflect attitudes and environments associated with an earlier era, even though the novel itself was published in 2019. Regardless of that intention, I struggled with the decision to approach the material as explicitly as it was presented. Whenever this character appeared, I found myself moving through those sections quickly in order to return to the aspects of the novel I had genuinely been enjoying.
And that's perhaps the most frustrating part of Inside: beneath the distractions is a novel I truly admired.
I loved its sense of place. I loved its affection for design and publishing. I loved being immersed in this glamorous, ambitious world of editors, photographers, decorators, and deadlines. The murder mystery itself almost becomes secondary to the intoxicating portrait of a bygone creative industry, for me.
In the end, I find myself conflicted. I can't wholeheartedly recommend Inside to everyone, nor is it a book I would casually hand to a friend without qualification. Yet I also can't dismiss it. Ross created a world I genuinely wanted to inhabit, populated it with some characters I wanted to understand, and kept me turning pages because I needed to know how it all ended.
For readers fascinated by the intersection of magazine publishing, interior design, and the excesses of the 1970s and 1980s, Inside offers a vivid and engrossing experience. Just know what you're walking into: this is a stylish, sharply observed novel whose considerable strengths are, at least for this reader, frequently overshadowed by choices that ultimately detracted from the story it told so well.
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