A Shot in the Dark: A Memoir

Celebrity photographer D’Orazio drops names and describes his professional ascent in this dishy if tiresome autobiography. The chatty, nonlinear chapters detail key shoots and formative moments from D’Orazio’s 30-year career, which began when he approached Italian Vogue with a portfolio of whale photos at age 25. Mostly, D’Orazio discusses his subjects, including Harrison Ford, who invited the author to smoke weed between shoots, and Brooke Shields, who attended dinner at D’Orazio’s mother’s house, as did fellow subjects Linda Evangelista and Mickey Rourke. Occasionally, the account gets self-critical, with D’Orazio writing frankly of his struggles with substance abuse and the ways his depression has affected his parenting. The off-the-cuff tone proves a blessing and a curse: it allows D’Orazio to establish quick intimacy with readers, but many of his metaphors need fine-tuning (one model has “the reserve of a Garbo mixed with the beauty of an extraterrestrial”). The name dropping, too, wears thin; despite D’Orazio’s claim that he only means to paint his celebrity clients “in an insightful, endearing, and entertaining way,” several chapters, including one on Raquel Welch, shade into voyeurism. Even devoted gossip hounds might find themselves impatient for D’Orazio to wrap things up. Photos. (Sept.)