Category: … as opposed to one of the four new celebrity autobiographies which debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list this week.
Bob Barker, Kathie Lee Gifford, Tori Spelling and Kristin Chenowith all jumped on the celebrity memoir bandwagon with their own offerings this week, taking up valuable space in the top 15 of the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover non-fiction.
Of course, while Russell Brand wrote My Booky Wook all on his lonesome, each one of these new “autobiographies” was written with the assistance of an actual, professional writer, with the exception of Kathy Lee Gifford’s book, which by all accounts should have been ghostwritten.
Bob Barker enlisted L.A. Times book review editor Digby Diehl to help him write his book, Priceless Memories. Noting that Barker “snubs 35 years of seminal Price is Right people” in his book, reviewer Chris Mann writes: “This book’s actual retail price: $24.99. Actually acknowledging the contributions of those who helped create your starmaking vehicle and elevate you to media/industry icon status: priceless.” Read the full review.
Tori Spelling’s book Mommywood is credited as having been co-written with Hilary Liftin and is widely reported to be entirely ghostwritten. Reviewer Tom Hardij writes, “I read [Mommywood] so you don’t have to!” Read the full review.
Kristin Chinoweth hired writing partner Joni Rogers to assist on her book. I find it interesting that even a self-professed huge fan of Chinoweth admittedly found the book filled with very little substance and basically had to talk herself into liking the book. Read the full review
And while I couldn’t uncover any immediate proof that Kathie Lee Gifford hired a ghostwriter to assist on her book, Just When I Thought I’d Dropped My Last Egg, by all accounts, maybe she should have. In her review, entitled Kathie Lee Gifford Lays an Egg in the Shape of a Book, Debra McGuire writes that the self-indulgent book “is written in the guise of a humorous self-help book. It’s thin on advice, thinner on the laughs, and mostly about Kathie Lee.” Read the full review
I predict that, when the novelty of these new additions wears off, people will quickly realize not only that not one of these people has lived even half as interesting a life as Russell Brand, not one of these folks has, in actuality, offered us a real memoir.
Here’s the thing: Just being a celebrity or having lived the life of a celebrity doesn’t necessarily make for good reading. Brand’s life story, on the other hand, is not a “celebrity memoir” - it’s a memoir. My Booky Wook would have made good reading whether or not Brand ever achieved fame. Brand’s book is also good because he actually wrote it - he’s a comedian, he writes for a living, and he wrote this book on his own and wrote it well.
Not only is Brand’s memoir beloved of the people, it is receiving critical acclaim on both sides of the pond, and don’t just take my word for it.
Andrew Anthony of the Guardian writes, “My Booky Wook puts most other celebrity memoirs to shame.” Read the full review.
On his experience of reading My Booky Wook, Dwight Garner of the New York Times writes: “I laughed out loud at least a dozen times.” Read the full review.
Russell Brand is flying from Tuscany, Italy, today to Los Angeles, California, to begin a week of rehearsals on his upcoming film Get Him to the Greek.
Make us proud, my fellow Americans. Show him that we have better taste than to be force fed whatever fodder is offered us. Buy My Booky Wook, read it cover-to-cover, and then join me at the Grove in Los Angeles on Friday, May 1st, to get your book signed and meet ol’ Russ in the flesh!
For details on Brand’s upcoming book signing, visit Russell Brand - My Booky Wook at Barnes and Noble. To get a copy of the book, if you’re in the U.S., visit your local bookstore so your purchase helps My Booky Wook earn its rightful place at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list. Alternatively, visit Brand’s website - RussellBrand.tv.
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