Review by Booklist Review
In this amusing book, Widdicombe does what he has done for the past 20 or so years: chronicle the high jinks of the rich and famous. He also explains how the once-reticent rich decided that they, too, wanted to become famous, detailing the myriad ways in which he aided them in that pursuit. An undocumented émigré from Australia, Widdicombe found a day job selling hot dogs on New York's Upper West Side, but his nights were spent going to clubs, crashing parties, and rubbing shoulders with and sometimes dodging elbows from key players in the art and music scenes, as well as worming his way into society circles. He eventually wound up reporting on celebrities for the New York Daily News and TMZ, which led in turn to writing a society column for the New York Times. Naturally, the anecdotes are many, though, disappointingly, virtually none of them will elicit gasps or raise eyebrows. Jerry Lewis claiming he helped JFK write Profiles in Courage is about as surprising as it gets. A number of the names he drops here are from the geriatric set (or dead), and quite a few will be familiar only to New Yorkers. Still, Widdicombe's arch tone and observational acumen make for generally entertaining reading. What's most interesting are his musings about the intertwining of wealth, fame, and politics, setting up his theory that Paris Hilton led directly to President Trump. Dish with a dash of straight talk.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Widdicombe, editor-in-chief of luxury lifestyle magazine Avenue, debuts with a fascinating and punchy account of his more than 20 years reporting society and celebrity gossip for Vanity Fair, Town & Country, and the New York Times. For Widdicombe, being a gossip columnist is a serious job that "requires the skills of a critic, detective, interviewer, and humorist, all balanced like a tray of mismatched glasses"--skills he has honed since arriving in New York City from Australia in 1998. He admits that, "as glamorous as it may look, hanging out with rich people is mainly just stressful and expensive." Among his many interviewees are Elton John ("We were being provided to the star as an après-show buffet"), Paris Hilton ("a rich person performing being wealthy for the purpose of gaining celebrity"), and Jared Kushner ("a nice-seeming, if somewhat wet, young man"). But most fascinating are his observations on how the nature of "celebrity" itself has changed. He highlights how gossip reporting shifted its focus from the "classic 'New York Society' " of wives of wealthy men who eschewed publicity to a new generation of wealthy people who began to see how publicity could be used to brand themselves. This eye-opening account of a moment when "being wealthy was becoming embraced as a sub-culture" will delight pop culture enthusiasts. (July)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An Australian-born New York Times social columnist dishes on celebrities and wealthy elites while offering his take on the modern relationship between fame and money. In 1998, Widdicombe left Sydney to pursue a new life in New York City. By day, he sold hot dogs at a downtown kiosk; by night, he sneaked into celebrity parties where he learned "the three golden rules" of gate-crashing: "dress the part, act like you belong, and always be ready to sail with the tide." His early journalistic work involved covering--and sometimes gleefully skewering--the New York fashion industry. Widdicombe took another job at a photography gallery patronized by one of the Koch brothers, who discreetly propositioned him at a dinner party. As the author's network grew, so did his access to the rich and famous. When a British daytime talk show expressed interest in transforming a column Widdicombe wrote into a television show, the author was asked to meet with the show's production company head, Elisabeth Murdoch, at her father Rupert's penthouse. The show never aired; but the author's next gig landed him on the "Page Six" gossip beat at the Murdoch-owned New York Post. There, he had the opportunity to observe firsthand how "immense wealth was rebranding itself not as some arbitrary privilege…but as a bold lifestyle choice." His work there and at such entertainment outlets as Showbiz Tonight and TMZ led him to posit the ingenious theory that it was heiress Paris Hilton who, at the turn of the century, began the trend of "performing [wealth] for the purpose of gaining celebrity." This witty and insightful book suggests how the gossip journalism meant as entertainment has not only diminished "the impact of shame in public life." It has also led to a grab for celebrity among America's elites, who are using the fame they once eschewed to get "more of everything." A sharp-eyed and disturbing chronicle. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
