Ugh. You'd think a book about gossip would be interesting. Spoiler alert: it's not. At least not in the hands of this author. Snooze fest. Unforgivable typos/editing misses. Blech.

very helpful read, especially after the Britney doc

If you read "Glass Castle" by this author, you know she is some kind of writer. That book states that she is a columnist for MSNBC, I think. I was surprised to find out that she's a gossip columnist, which seems too frivolous for her. She has a new book out that I was trying to get at my library and I think it's too new, so I'll have to wait. In the meantime I found this book, and it's fascinating. It's not about personalities so much as it is about the history of gossip, from "Hollywood Confide...

I would read Jeannette Walls grocery lists, I adore her so. The history of tabloids - what's not to love? The thoroughness of this book is shocking, and in parts it was almost too thorough for me. With the early history, most of the people were unfamiliar, and I found myself flipping around to remind myself of who they were when the tabloid world began to overlap and become quite incestuous. When the people involved were familiar to me, I could not put this down. WOW. I will say I will rarely (I...

I love Jeannette Walls and I thought I'd love this book, too. I thought it would be really intriguing. But I just couldn't get into it. There weren't any "characters " I cared about. Guess that's why I don't like to watch the news. I think the subject is fascinating, because the news really is just another gossip show. Just watching all those up-and-coming reporters as they fake their emotions makes me sick. I wanted the book to be a more scathing rant against what current news programming has b...

Early nonfiction from the author of The Glass Castle. Very interesting to read about how 60 Minutes staffers were once associated with sleazy, checkbook journalism. Also a surprise to find out why People magazine is called that: Its creator wanted it to focus on people only--not on places (like National Geographic) or issues (like Time or Newsweek) or ideas.I would have liked to read more about celebrities who refuse to work with the media most or all of the time (there are a few).Minus one star...

If you don't think the world of gossip is bought and paid for by the people who are portrayed, think again. This was an eye opening book about the back story of publications such as People and the Enquirer and TV shows such as Entertainment Tonight. I was very much surprised at the deals that are struck by the stars and the rags, (If you'll give us a scoop about your alcoholic son we won't publish a story about your infidelities). All the popular names in recent history, JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Mari...

I really enjoyed reading this book. It gives the back story of the gossip industry, which is practically all journalism nowadays! I had read Jeannette Walls' two memoirs and this was completely different. This book was very well researched and she names all the names. Fascinating!

I can't say I was impressed with this one. It was somewhat interesting, but it wasn't what I expected. I stopped half way through, as it appeared to be just a history of the National Inquirer. I expected this to be an analysis and the trends of the general news industry. Perhaps it moves this direction in the second half, but I wasn't willing to continue to find out.

I had high hopes for this book because I adored her novels (Half broke horses/glass castle). At first it was very interesting, but then it began to feel extremely gossipy instead of factual. Then I arrived at a part in the book where she was trying to illustrate how extreme celebrity had become in the late 70's/early 80's. Saying how demanding celebrities had become, she cited a legendary story involving Van Halen and brown M&M's and I knew she had the facts wrong because I'd seen a documentary

I really enjoyed this book. I was a bit surprised by the complicitness of the stars in dishing their own dirt. Call me naive, but I really believed that celebrities were angry by the tales told by the tabloids. Not so, not so, at least in many cases. I was also amazed at how much information was kept back from the public regarding our political leaders. That was a bit disturbing. My naivite again, I guess.DISH is an entertaining read and the other flavors it with tidbits of juicy gossip along th...

I read this book based on my good opinions of the author's other books, "The Glass Castle" and "Half Broke Horses". I found the history of tabloid journalism and the evolution of such publications as "The National Enquirer" and "People" fascinating. I may never look at "60 Minutes" the same again. There were several revelations made and those I took as entertainment, like I take current celebrity gossip. I have no way of knowing if any of it is true but it is fun to read. I wish there were photo...

I picked this book up at the library because I loved Jeannette Walls's The Glass Castle. Walls is a gossip writer in New York (the opposite of her difficult childhood?), and this book is about the history of gossip/tabloid media (newspaper, TV, internet). It is really fascinating, very dense (slow going sometimes)--not a quick read but very interesting and well-written.

The history of celebrity gossip. Sounds great, right? Not so much.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It is still a journalist writing about journalism and so is biased, but it does show how news reporting has changed since WWII. News reporting is no longer news, but is often opinion pieces about events. Often the subjects are covered in a gossip fashion. I did learn some things and had many things confirmed. It has not changed my negative view of journalists, and their bottom line being "what will sell."

Ms. Walls has researched thoroughly for this unusual book.I have noticed that even the 'mainstream' press has become enamored of tabloid type 'reporting' the past 10 years or so, and the past few years there is a dearth of HARD news, but the gossipy tabloid crap is overwhelming.This book tracks the development of the trend to replace hard news with tabloid crap. It is a very good read.