|summary=I have what is perhaps a regular-sized interest in A and B-list celebrities. I can name the off-spring of many an actress, tell you who the spokespeople for certain brands are, write a list of celebs with publicly declared devotions to certain religions, even win the odd pub quiz thanks to knowing the birth names of various performers. I know all sorts of things about this rather small subset of society, but I know the ''what'' more than the ''why'', and that's exactly the problem, according to this book. After all, if more of us sat down to wonder about what it actually ''is'' that the likes of Geri Halliwell and Nicole Kidman bring to the UN, we might seriously question how and why they ever got involved in the first place.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099532050</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Rob Chapman
|title=Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head
|rating=5
|genre=Entertainment
|summary=Roger Barrett, who later acquired the moniker 'Syd' (let's make him Syd from now on) was born in Cambridge in 1946. The fourth of five children, he was the only one to inherit any lasting artistic talent, which came from his father Max. The latter was a senior pathologist, member of the local Philharmonic Society, gifted singer, pianist and watercolour painter.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571238548</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Michele Monro
|title=Matt Monro: The Singer's Singer
|rating=4.5
|genre=Biography
|summary=In terms of British chart statistics and record sales, Matt Monro never quite fulfilled his full potential. When measured against the achievements of contemporary ballad singers like Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, he fell some way short. Yet the former Terry Parsons was a regular fixture on the light entertainment circuit, and overseas, particularly in Latin America and the Philippines, he was undoubtedly one of Britain's most successful exports ever, and at one point he was the biggest selling artist in Spain. His idol Frank Sinatra, to whom he was often compared, often said that Matt was the only British singer he ever really listened to.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848566182</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Don Felder
|title=Heaven And Hell: My Life in the Eagles, 1974 - 2001
|rating=4.5
|genre=Entertainment
|summary=In terms of record sales and income from live tours, hardly anyone matched the Eagles' rate of success during the 1970s. Yet the constant search to better themselves with each record, the in-fighting, the drugs and egos, soon got the better of them. They say it is tough at the top, and nobody is better equipped to tell the often painful story than their former guitarist Don Felder.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753826771</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Will Birch
|title=Ian Dury: The Definitive Biography
|rating=4.5
|genre=Biography
|summary=Ian Dury was always one of the most individual, even contrary characters in the musical world. In a branch of showbiz where people often relied on good looks as a short cut to stardom, he was no oil painting. During the pub rock era, he and his group, the Blockheads, ploughed a lonely furrow which owed more to jazz-funk than rock'n'roll, and his songs extolled the virtues of characters from Billericay or Plaistow rather than those from Memphis or California. Alongside the young punk rock upstarts with whom he competed for inches in the rock press, he was comparatively middle-aged. As if that was not enough, in his own words childhood illness had left him a permanent 'raspberry ripple'.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0283071036</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mark Simpson
|title=Alastair Sim: The Star of Scrooge and the Belles of St Trinian's
|rating=4
|genre=Biography
|summary=The mere mention of Alastair Sim conjures up visions of pictures made during the 1950s when a more gentle humour was the order of the day. Yet the man hated and did his best to avoid publicity, claiming that the person the public saw on screen revealed all that anybody needed to know about him. How he would have fared twenty years later in the age of a more intrusive press, one cannot but wonder.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0752453726</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=David Clayton
|title=The Richard Beckinsale Story
|rating=4
|genre=Biography
|summary=A generation probably knows Richard Beckinsale only from repeats on the UK Gold TV channels, and from occasional mentions in the context of 'how great he would have been if only…' In 1978 The Sunday Times Magazine tipped the 30-year-old sitcom favourite as a rising major star of the 80s who would blossom into one of the great all-round stage actors. One year later, he was dead.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0752454404</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Val Doonican
|title=My Story, My Life: Val Doonican - The Complete Autobiography
|rating=4.5
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=In the 1960s, if Harold Wilson was the personification of politics and the Beatles the collective icon of youth culture, Val Doonican was similarly at the very apex of light entertainment. He may no longer have such a high profile – but he's outlasted them both. Over four decades he has refused to bow to passing fads and fashions, remained true to himself, and in the process he has never really put a foot wrong. As he says towards the end, 'When you find out what it is you do best, and what the public wants from you, then stick with it, and do it as well as you can.' With the possible exception of his contemporary and long-time professional and personal friend Rolf Harris, it's difficult to think of another person in showbiz who comes across as more genuinely likeable, and more a genuine case of 'what you see is what you get'.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906779619</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Jo Berry
|title=The Ultimate DVD Easter Egg Guide: How to Access the Hidden Extras on Your DVD
|rating=4.5
|genre=Entertainment
|summary=Consider the Easter Egg - at least in the way DVD collectors mean. Sometimes a pointless hidden add-on, that is there for no reason. Sometimes they can be a priceless bonus, seemingly gifted by the disc producers to those in the know, costing - at least in the case of some animated instances - many thousands of pounds. Some oik on set with a camcorder, they are not. I've been guilty several times of clicking away in directions the menus don't seem to encourage on the off-chance I find something (or, on a PC, just sweeping the PC mouse over any and every title card in case it highlights something previously invisible). Forcing several titles and chapters by going straight to them in case they're something secret is not a hobby I like to admit to.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0752875205</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Gary Giddins and Scott Deveaux
|title=Jazz
|rating=5
|genre=Entertainment
|summary=At first glance this 700-page volume might look a little daunting. Do not be daunted. If you want a small pocket book which merely scratches at the surface and can probably be digested in a sitting or two, look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you want an extremely readable and comprehensive book on jazz which can not only be read cover to cover, but also retained as a work of reference to use again and again, I doubt if this can be bettered.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393068617</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Nick Hornby
|title=An Education: The Screenplay
|rating=5
|genre=Entertainment
|summary=Adroit marketing? Well, yes. ''An Education'' has been published, of course, to coincide with the film's general release in the UK. Hardly surprising since our national appetite for nosiness seems insatiable and cosy background details prop up every telly series and film these days. As well as the screenplay, Nick Hornby has provided an introduction and diary of the film's successful premiere at the Sundance Festival in Utah. Beyond trivia, I think this fascinating little book presents an excellent 'how to' guide for wannabes from one of Britain's most respected screen and novel writers.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141044748</amazonuk>
}}
