Rating: 
Summary: booooring!!!
Review: Absolutely nothing new here for anyone who's interested in this subject. Kenneth Anger said virtually all of it before--and in a much breezier writing style--30 years ago in HOLLYWOOD BABYLON.
Rating: 
Summary: Success de Scandale
Review: Do movie stars get into more trouble than mere mortals, or is there just something in the Hollywood air that sparks scandal? James Robert Parish offers gripping evidence of both in "The Hollywood Book of Scandals," which is his most involving and formidable book in years. Chronicling the sins of the glamorous (Lana Turner, Liz 'n' Dick, Winona Ryder, Rob Lowe) as well as those of the creepy (O.J. Simpson, Heidi Fleiss, Roman Polanski, Bob Crane), Parish selects 32 cases that are, as he writes, "representative, intriguing episodes of different types of scandals from among the many that have dotted Hollywood's long history." His choices offer a spicy smorgasbord. Parish -- who had background in both law and entertainment long before the two fields merged -- writes with authority and panache. Although he covers some familiar territory in the public agonies of Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Blake and other supermarket checkout mainstays, he more importantly delves into such dark corners as the Hollywood influence of organized crime, the Rabid Right, sexual politics of all persuasions, and other sidebars to fame that seldom make their way into books intended for general readership. For years the bellwether for salacious writing about Tinseltown was Kenneth Anger's "Hollywood Babylon." James Robert Parish's extremely well-researched, highly readable "The Hollywood Book of Scandals" offers a splendid, more reputable, update to Anger's glorious bitch-fest. Parish not only shows how the mighty have fallen, but how some of the fallen are still mighty.
(Nat Segaloff is the author of "The Everything Tall Tales, Legends and Outrageous Lies Book" and has produced "Biography" episodes for A&E.
Rating: 
Summary: Scandalous Behavior
Review: Hollywood scandals are almost as old as the town itself.
James Parish's latest, "The Hollywood Book of Scandals," profiles screen legends whose off-camera behavior was legendary in its own right.
Best thing about this book are the details.
Yet Parish's writing style is more documentary than gossipy.
Excellent both as a pleasure read and a reference source.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Book of Scandals
Review: I am always happy when Mr. James Robert Parish writes a new book. Another book about Hollywood, but this one will keep you reading from page one until you finish without putting it down. As a leading authority on the entertainment business, Mr. Parish's new book covers stars from the 1920's to the present, young and old. Stars that you would never think could get into such shocking trouble are written about in this book. Everyone interested in Hollywood and the movie industry should read this book and find out what kind of trouble the stars can get into. Be it sex, murder, shoplifting etc., this book covers it all. It could change the way you think about one of these idols. I changed my thinking about a couple of them who I have admired in the past.Can't wait until Mr. Parish comes out with his next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Most Of The Book Nothing New
Review: I have read many books on Hollywood scandals, and other than some newer gossip, it's just the same old stuff, rehashed. Arbuckle, Harlow, etc etc. Heard it before. Author adds chapter on alleged witch hunts of the 50s, perhaps he should read about the real attemped Communist infiltration of Hollywood before crying about, say, Edward G Robinson. Compares "censorship" to Sean Penn and Dixie Chicks. Excuse me, but if there WERE government censorship, these overpaid actors and singers would not have been allowed to voice an opinion. If we as the public don't wish to buy their products, it is not censorship, but freedom of choice.
Author simply got the idea from Kenneth Anger (whose books are inconsistent and full of unfounded gossip) and thought he'd do an updated version.
If you're 30 or older and have read about old scandals, you won't find anything new here.
Rating:
Summary: Sensational stories -- without sensationalism
Review: James Robert Parish comes up with another tome about Hollywood. Once again, Parish offers dishy stories within a framework of intelligent prose, careful historical analysis, and a keen eye for human behavior. There's something for everyone in "The Hollywood Book of Scandals." The book covers dozens of cases, from the more obscure (comedienne Thelma Todd's mysterious death in the early 1930s) to the fresh-from-the-presses tales involving Robert Blake and Winona Ryder. Among the other stars found in Parish's latest are Errol Flynn, Ingrid Bergman, Liberace, and Woody Allen. "The Hollywood Book of Scandals" is a must for film lovers. Gossipy? Sure. Informative and engrossing? Definitely. And as plus, there's always Parish's straightforward and insightful style.
Rating:
Summary: A TOTALLY ENGROSSING AND EXCITING BOOK!
Review: James Robert Parish has given we who love scandals and Show biz a book that will hold a prominent space on my shelves. As a writer for the theatre I am always interested in "backstage" stories and Parish doesn't disappoint. This is one of those books that I will constantly refer to in my research and just for the sheer fun of knowing who did what, when and to whom. A really fun read and as with all of Parish's books meticulously researched and lovingly wrought. Anyone interested in Hollywood or show biz in general should own this book.
Rating:
Summary: Movie Lore Scandals
Review: James Robert Parish has written a concise, thorough and well
researched volume on over 100 scandals which have plagued
Hollywood from its infancy to the present. Included are such
personalities as William Desmond Taylor (whose murder is still
unsolved), Wallace Reid, Jean Harlow and Paul Bern, Elizabeth
Taylor, Judy Garland, Errol Flynn and O.J. Simpson. The nice
thing about this well illustrated book is that the author presents the facts and then leaves it up to the reader to decide innocence or guilt. Very readable and highly recommnended for
for lovers of scandal and movie lore.
Rating:
Summary: Movie Lore Scandals
Review: James Robert Parish has written a concise, thorough and well
researched volume on over 100 scandals which have plagued
Hollywood from its infancy to the present. Included are such
personalities as William Desmond Taylor (whose murder is still
unsolved), Wallace Reid, Jean Harlow and Paul Bern, Elizabeth
Taylor, Judy Garland, Errol Flynn and O.J. Simpson. The nice
thing about this well illustrated book is that the author presents the facts and then leaves it up to the reader to decide innocence or guilt. Very readable and highly recommnended for
for lovers of scandal and movie lore.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Time Had By All?
Review: James Robert Parish, Hollywood historian extraordinaire, smartly tackles the biggest and best Hollywood scandals of the last century. From the sexual ignominies of Valentino and Fatty Arbuckle to the outrageous O.J. and Robert Blake murder cases, Parish shines an accurate journalistic light on the follies and foibles of those we call Stars. If you want the real lowdown on Liz and Dick, the SNL cast, Woody Allen, Marilyn, Natalie Wood, Winona Ryder, Heidi Fleiss and many many more, throw away the tabloids and pick up this book - it's the most fun Hollywood read this year!
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