Celebrities Books

Six years ago, I read everything about astrology that I could get my hands on; I needed to understand a bad seed on my family tree. During that quest, I borrowed "Star Power" by Jacqueline Stallone from the local library.

Having been born in the 3rd Decan of Scorpio, one thing in particular grabbed my attention on page 249 of "Star Power":

"You can also make technical writing as interesting as a juicy romance novel. I wish more of you would try your hand at saucing up some of the stale textbooks out there."

Jacqueline Stallone impressed me so much with her statement that I copied it down and kept it in my "Valuable Documents" file. What Ms. Stallone had to say about the best-bet for my career as a Scorpio-Cancer impressed me even more than the lady I dated at the time, someone I found by using Ms. Stallone's technique in "Star Power." That lady was an "8" on Ms. Stallone's scale; the most perfect woman I've ever had the pleasure of dating.

In 1993 and as I signed a book contract with McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, I remembered Ms. Stallone's words and read them anew. How did she know? Just how did Ms. Stallone know that writing would be a best-bet for my career? Released April 2005, "Jeff Chandler - Film, Record, Radio, Television and Theatre Performances" (ISBN 0786420014) is just the first step in my new writing career.

Thank you, Jacqueline Stallone.

I have had this book for 10-11 years. I have learned from the info. in this book, how to pick people's signs just by their characteristics. I have read tons of books on Astrology and Jacqueline hits the personality and best matches between signs right on the nose. I have people come to me constantly when they meet someone new and ask me how they match up. She has never been wrong yet. My husband and I matched a 7 on her scale, which means "great buddies". I always say if you rate great buddies and have tons of chemistry, how can you go wrong?? Anyway, because of all the interest in the book from all my friends, my paperback is totally worn out and all the pages are falling out and taped in, etc. So, therefore, I am in search of a hard cover copy in great condition. By the way, I am a Gemini/Libra and my husband is a Libra/Gemini! So, for any of you considering buying this book, you can't go wrong. It is terrific and very interesting. Give it a try!
Your Friend, Carol

Forget the "fluff" and tabloid gossipy tidbits. Kristine McKenna interviews celebrities with questions that we ourselves would ask a friend. Reflections on their culture, how they feel about their fame and questions of who and what inspires them. I originally purchased this book for an interview piece on Edie Beale but was soon drawn to other interviews with other celebs. I didn't know who some of the interviewed were but Krisitine's interviewing style made me interested in who some of these people were and piqued my curiousity to learn more about them. Her writing style and genuine interest in the people she interviews make her a careful and thoughtful writer. I will purchase her other book, "Book of Changes" based on the wonderful experience that I had reading this book.

A celebrity with the chance to be interviewed by Kristine McKenna is one mighty lucky celebrity indeed. Ms. McKenna refuses to delve into the tabloid gossip of their lives, focusing instead on drawing out their insights about the human condition. She wants these people to explain inspiration, fame, ambition, enchantment... and by reading her subjects well, and expertly pacing her lines of inquiry, she almost always succeeds. A magnificent achievement, given how jaded and suspicious most of her interviewees tend (at least initially) to be. Ms. McKenna is a far more accomplished and insightful interviewer than Fresh Air's Terry Gross, in my opinion.

I once interviewed Jacqueline Marcell, author of "Elder Rage or Take My Father ... Please!" whose self-published book is endorsed by Regis Philbin, Hugh Downs, Leeza Gibbons, and at least nine other well-known celebrities.

When I asked, "How did you get their contacts, she gave a very guarded answer was very guarded."

Now, having a copy of "V.I.P Address Book," I've had the opportunity to contact a few celebrities whose work I admire.

For example, with the help of "V.I.P. Address Book," I've made a contact with Rachael Ray from the "Food Network." With this connection, I had the opportunity to share input about her new show on ABC.

I've also had the opportunity to cross reference some contacts that I already have, with what exists in "V.I.P. Address Book." And they are accurate.

When you're curious about who knows who, or you want to add influence to your life,"V.I.P Address Book," is an excellent resource.

Now in an expanded and updated 2002 edition, the V.I.P. Address Book presents over 28,000 addresses of the powerful, the famous, the infamous, and the celebrated, including political activists, sports heroes, journalists, singers, actors, computer experts, business moguls, and more. A direct, superbly organized, no-nonsense, and "user friendly" guide that lists the addresses in alphabetical order, V.I.P. Address Book is a first-class reference for anyone who needs to look up the address of a famous person quickly, from journalists and advertisers to fund raisers and researchers. V.I.P. Address Book is a core reference for personal, professional, and community library reference collections.

I am NOT a cook but this amusing book provides an entertaining daydream. Anyone with this sense of humour gets my vote- and I read the book from cover to cover for its short witty anecdotes about famous women. Without cooking anything (yet) it was great fun and I have given it as a present to many people -just for the descriptions. "My Kingdom for a Pizza" "Cleopatras Pearls" "For whom the Chips Toll " etc "Eleanor's Eggs" (Roosevelt) could perhaps do with a witty frozen storage section for our modern misses- but cannibalism isn't included in the book- as yet! I wait for the next edition with baited breath .

This is the most FUN cookbook I've ever read: the recipes are real--easy-to-do and delicious; the snippets about renowned women's lives and the recipe dedications to them are entertaining, intelligent and sly. I've never before encountered a cookbook that I couldn't put down 'til I'd finished reading it! And...I've always KNOWN that I'm right--champagne and chocolate cream pie DO go together!!

The only thing I can really say is, "Great service!"

I always enjoy "weird news" stories, and this book has a full year's worth, from reminders about what happened to people like Martha Stewart and Michael Jackson to obscure local items (who knew there actually was a zoo where visitors could kiss the bears?). It's also amazingly up to date, with articles about events that only happened recently (in fact, the book itself has the look of something that's been rushed into print). The writing style is the same throughout: a funny headline that comments on the story and acts as an early punchline, followed by a few sentences describing the highlights of what happened. I laughed out loud at some of those headlines, but more than that I found a lot of the bizarre-but-true items quite fascinating. When you read this book, you'll realize that 2005 really has been a strange year.

It's not great literature, but it does capture a moment in time in pop culture. The older People Almanacs are not as glitzy or smoothly written as the newer ones, which make them all the more fun. This is a great book for people who like to collect old People magazines and just want to recapture some memories as to non-serious history during a year in one's life.

This book is a slammer jammer packed with fun and great facts for ALL ages. You can check on all the statistics of the Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys, Grammys and even the Mtv movie awards. This is a great book for a great price! Perfect. Hell Yeah!

Alex Haley is rather unappreciated these days, as his reputation is unjustly tarnished by issues surrounding the veracity of "Roots." But this collection of his pioneering interviews for Playboy should leave no doubt that this was a fine journalist.

The interviews with individuals then prominent on the African-American scene -- Miles Davis, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Brown -- are very insightful. For anyone who happens to be a journalist, or aspires to be one, the book serves as a textbook of a kind. With Miles Davis and Brown -- the ultimate "hip" individuals -- Haley comes off as something of a square, but nonetheless asks questions that elicit thoughtful and candid responses.

His interview with Johnny Carson is another highlight. Carson, then in only his fifth season as host of "The Tonight Show," already appears, thanks to Haley's prodding, to be an embittered showbiz veteran, an intelligent man who fully realizes the relative unimportance of what he does for a living.

The conversation with neo-Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell is a masterpiece. Without losing his own cool, Haley is able to allow Rockwell to expose himself as a complete buffoon, if a dangerous one.

Toward the end of the book, you'll find Haley's account of the pros and cons of being the author of "Roots." He doesn't ask for sympathy, but he is realistic about the experience.

I'm sorry to see that it's out of print, but if you have any interest in the U.S. during the 1960s, you should make the effort to find this book. You won't regret it.

William Wright's charting of the life and sadnesses of the late Christina Onassis makes compulsive reading. A wealth of detail is coupled with a racy narrative style to produce a book that is for once, in that much overused phrase, unputdownable.

It would be easy to dismiss Christina as an empty-headed, affluent and cocooned woman. What Wright does is to shine a light into all the corners of this complex woman's life - her battles with the megalomaniac shipping tycoon who was her father, the war which ensued with Onassis's last wife the profligate Jackie Kennedy, her failed attempts at love and acceptance and the volatile dynamic that made up the Onassis clan - while allowing Christina to emerge as a vulnerable and very human figure and not the spoiled, hedonistic brat of popular acceptance.

A riveting read of unusual dimensions - the glitz and glamour more the habitat of Jackie Collins suffused with a bible-black Greek tragedy - a tragedy that was to cast its shadow across the entire Onassis dynasty and which threatens to darken Christina's daughter Athina, the richest little girl in the world.

Know this in advance: Angels, Anarchists & Gods is only black & white portraits without much explanation. It is a photo album of some special people in some of our lives. For us we will know these people and delight in seeing them again.

In this photo album are many of the people who expanded and kept truth and freedom and creativity and peace alive. They did this and we did this primarily in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's. While some are no longer among us, the wonderful portraits are not as these folks looked then. The photos are of these great human beings in middle or late age or as they are currently. They are still beautiful. They look great and there is still much sparkle and energy.

The portraits are top notch from a photo art standpoint. Each one really brings out the subject and in some cases their world. For me, the even grater value of this publication is it's providing a photo album of key individuals that changed our lives for the better. Having this book reminds me not only of these people, but of the messages their leadership brought.

These challanges are alive and need to be met today as ever before to keep peace, freedom, brotherhood, sisterhood, truth and creativity alive. These challanges did not start nor end in the sixties and seventies. We still have much to do.

I hesitate to list some of the people in this photo album, because I could not possibly come close to listing them all. I will leave it as a very pleasent suprise for those rare folks who will buy this unique book. Enjoy.

P.S. - If by chance one purchased and enjoyed Linda McCartney's Sixties - Portrait Of An Era, then Christopher Felver's Angels, Anarchists & Gods is a must have. While few of the folks presented are musicians (as with Ms. McCartney's wonderful book) these people were very much a part of the important movements in the 50's, 60's and 70's or in some cases, at least part of the fun of those times. As Felver's book will show, these people are, in many cases, alive and well and their ideas and gifts are too.