Maye Musk is the quintessential "beauty and brains" - graceful fashion model, and dietitian with multiple university degrees (in multiple languages!). Part life advice book, part autobiography, Maye derives succinct and practical advice from her lifetime of supremely incredible as well as unfortunate experiences.
The book begins with some introduction to her current-day modeling career, perspectives on aging, and some solid advice, before ascending into the jaw-dropping story of her extremely adventurous upbringing. Her parents were remarkable and resourceful individuals, flying their family across the globe in a single-prop plane, and driving adventures across the vast Sahara desert, complete with near-misses with exotic and dangerous wildlife. The ingenuity and radical self-reliance of her father ensured any mechanical issues that might arise would be handled, and her mother a well-prepared planner and caretaker. An astonishing life - until the darker part of the story unfolds.
Coming down from the rush of the adventure and her magnificent parents, the tone becomes harrowing, as she recounts her suffering from a most horrid, abusive, absolutely terrible and cruel man, but tells it in an elegantly detached manner. Fortunately, the story continues onward in a positive trajectory, and her resolve and tenacity as a single mother of three is immensely admirable, as she continually rebuilds her life from scratch with each move - noting the importance of always making a plan.
She describes her approach to parenting, instilling autonomy and allowing them to pursue their own interests, no doubt paramount to the subsequent successes of Elon, Kimbal, and Tosca. Health and diet advice sections close up the book where we then arrive at current times, in which Maye is a glamorous, elegant, confident, and inspiring woman, still modeling at age 71 and fabulous as ever.
There are many great quotes, or mantras for some, to be noted - "live dangerously, carefully," "the harder you work, the luckier you get," and my personal favourite - "be fascinating - it is better to be interesting than to be beautiful."
Overall, it's very interesting read of a most unique and courageous woman.