Dish: The Inside Story on the World of Gossip

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Summary: Dish: The Inside Story on the World of Gossip
Review: Dish was an incredibly entertaining book that read like a thriller of the gossip industry - - I don't think I put the book down more than two or three times. I was fascinated by the history of the world of gossip that the author traces from Confidential to the Enquirer to the birth of tabloid television. Interspersed throughout the book, the author manages to skillfully "drop" gossip of her own about celebrities, past and present, adding an "up to the minute" feeling to the book. If you're a media junkie, it's a must read!

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Summary: Careless with names, cool with content
Review: I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in learning how the line between journalism and gossip has been forever blurred. But Walls--or her editor--glaringly mis-identifies some major players by name. For example, she calls former NBC news president Reuven Frank "Frank Reuven" and refers to Brown and Williamson scientist-whistleblower Jeffrey Wiegand as "Jeffrey Wigland." These mistakes are repeated in the book's index as well, along with some others. Somehow, I can't bring myself to give this more than 3 stars because the author's own errors in accuracy erode some of her credibility for me. Too bad, because otherwise, the book is exhaustively researched.

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Summary: Good but feels like the author rushed to print
Review: I picked this book up on a whim and what a treat. Gossip, whether you like it or not, has definately altered the course of history. Dish definately introduced some concepts I would have brushed off as trivial in the past.

I couldn't put it down.

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Summary: A fascinating look at the merger of news and sleaze.
Review: I'm not sure what I expected from this book when I picked it up. With Princess Grace on the cover (it doesn't talk about her at all) and a chapter about Diana, I guess I thought it would be about how great women took the hounding by the media. Well, it sort of is. But mostly it's about the gossip reporters, and about how the news industry, over the last few decades, slowly but solidly lost its integrity and turned toward sleaze for ratings and "scoops." Fascinating stuff! It doesn't so much repeat the gossip as it does tell how reporters get their story and what they do with it. I couldn't put this book down, except that every once in a while the sleaze factor was so great, I had to go and bathe just to feel clean again. There were parts I didn't really find captivating, but others where I laughed out loud, mostly at someone's arrogance. There's something in here for everybody. Easy to read, well written. I wanted more!

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Summary: The growth of gossip provides entertainment
Review: Not as lightweight as the title would have you believe, this overview of the growth of celebrity gossip is fascinating. The author chronicles the events which took gossip from a limited group of tabloids to the pages of some of the world's most prestigious newspapers as well as the surprising successful efforts of celebrities to control their public image.

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Summary: Tells ABOUT gossip...and includes some! GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: This book completely EXCEEDED my expectations! As a former journalist (who is now a ventriloquist believe it or not) I've always been interested in how and why gossip has grown in our news media.

I got THAT answer in this wonderful book written in a breezy, solid style that made it hard for me to put -- plus a LOT MORE.

Starting with Matt Drudge's meteoric rise, DISH backtracks to trace the growth in gossip over the years. You'll also find new revelations in here. In the end our news media (what it printed and NEGLECTED to print over the years) will make sense to you. And it reads like a novel. Some tidbits:

1. The overnight rise of Matt Drudge, using a computer his dad gifted him. Everything you wanted to know and what you didn't want or need to know (i.e. his alleged sexual preferences; media suspicions that he got some scoops through hacking) about him and how his lively internet column took over, confounded mainstream media and made him a huge multi-media star.
2. How the Hollywood studios along with fawning California politicos crushed Confidential magazine, the 1950s gossip sheet which dared to undermine the carefully-constructed phoney public relations images of many stars (some stars are named in the book).
3. Mike Wallace's pioneering role in bringing show biz to news, his fall from grace and professional rebirth on 60 Minutes.
4. The birth of the National Inquirer and why it's located in Florida (fears of problems from the Mob).
5. Why there wasn't more MAJOR NEGATIVE published gossip on the Kennedy administration (they virtually destroyed one person dabbling in info about them and many journalists were intimidated.) JFK's other marriage.
6. The OJ case, Elvis Princess Diana case, the gossip columnists of the 40s and 50s and their replacements, the explanation of why Rona Barrett had such a sudden rise and fall. The birth of People Magazine and it's influence on pushing tabloids to another level...which pushed the national media to a new level (or low?).
7. Hardball-playing p.r. and private detectives who contolled their clients images and staved off major scandals -- and how they do it (bullying, getting the dirt on and confronting critics and making sought after clients inaccessible to offending journalists).

This is a highly ENTERTAINING book, with lots of facts, quotes and info that you haven't read elsewhere. It's solidly written but an EASY read and you'll REGRET it when you come to the last page. It answered a LOT of questions for me about what "really" went on and why our news media is the way it is today. SUPERB!!!