The Celeb Diaries: The Sensational Inside Story of the Celebrity Decade

Review Summary: What a let down!

Review:

I'm intrigued by the Amazon reviewers who describe this book as being 'full of juicy revelations'. Could they please enlighten me as to what these are? I've just finished Celeb Diaries and it must be one of the tamest books ever written by a journalist. If you gasp at the news that Kelly Brook wasn't very friendly to him, or that Jude Law didn't like pictures of his kids appearing in the magazine, then you may find this riveting. Otherwise, give it a miss. What it does reveal is that Heat's contact with celebs was very limited. Yes, they got 'world exclusives' with various Big Brother contestants (be warned - there is a huge amount about Big Brother, regurgitating what the Heat team saw on the telly the previous night and how they gossiped about it) but actual contact with celebs seems to have been almost zero. Most of the entries are along the lines of 'Britney Spears had a meltdown and we've bought pictures of it' or 'David Beckham is allegedly having an affair and it's in all the papers!' As Mark Frith concedes, he borrows heavily from Piers Morgan's The Insider. Unfortunately, all he does is show up how vastly superior Morgan is, both as a journalist and a gossip.

Review Summary: Juicy, addictive and nostalgic

Review:

I have been buying Heat since 2000 and have watched in amazement as a Channel 4 programme called Big Brother and a little known listings mag called Heat changed celebrity culture as we know it. Heat is largely responsible for this seismic change to noughties pop culture and if you want to blame someone, blame Mark Frith.

I couldn't wait to buy this book and I haven't been disappointed. It's a fascinating pop history of Britain in the noughties, starting from when Spice Girls were accessible and chummy, and from when the jury was still out on Big Brother 1. Its weird hearing the names of former BB contestants and remembering when they were red hot and the interviews that everyone wanted. Yet in typical"famous for fifteen minutes" fashion, where are they now?

As you would expect, there is name dropping a plenty from the all round good eggs to the more remote stars who become Heat enemies. Considering the clout and influence that Heat has and still wields, you would think anyone in need of publicity would see the sense in maintaining good relations with them. Frith's style is chatty and incisive. He's not afraid to admit his mistakes, from the silly to the colossal- sleepless-nights sort of mistakes. Nobody can fail to admit he has done phenomenally well, sticking his neck out to get sales from 60,000 to over half a million. He shamelessly copies when he needs to, and is tenacious when protecting his exclusives.

If you want to be a journalist, this wouldn't be a bad read since there is a lot on media relations and etiquette here. However, its not very glamorous and the hours seem to exclude relationships, life or sleep. I have read Piers Morgan's diaries too and they compare quite well. Both diaries are deliciously scandalous whilst being touchingly reflective and showing more (and sometimes less) integrity than you would imagine. Nobody can accuse Mark of copying Piers though- the diary has been around since Pepys and beyond. A brilliant read.

Review Summary: Avid Heat readers only

Review:

I've been buying Heat every week for years, and I loved Smash Hits during his years as well, so I was interested to see Mark Frith had written this. He's a great magazine editor, but unfortunately that talent hasn't transferred to the writing of this book.

I agree with other reviewers that feel it is rushed. It seems like he wrote this in six months after he left Heat and his memory seems to fail him a lot. Stories are dealt with quickly. Stories that are covered in more detail, like the fall of Jade, which is one of the most interesting bits, only have a couple of pages devoted to them. Often a days diary entry is only a hundred words or so long and just states a big story that broke that day, e.g. Britney got married, with little other information such as his feelings on it. At one point he mentions a lunch with Simon Cowell and a few tidbits of information, I was dying to hear what he thought of Simon, but he never goes into any detail. Thats the thing, its very factual with little depth and I feel he holds a lot back.

My overall feeling is he's done it as a quick moneyspinner and thats a shame because it could have been much better.

Review Summary: Rather tame and lacking true Heat juice

Review:

I too was really looking forward to this but was mildly disappointed - Frith is modest, self-deprecating and likeable as an author. Clearly he's moved in some high celeb circles but for all that, doesn't quite manage to reveal anything that juicy/interesting. Encounters with celebs are glossed over and the author holds back from the critical honesty that makes Piers Morgan's books such value for money. More of a timeline of the rise of 'famous for being famous' celebrity cult, which is moderately entertaining.

Review Summary: Pointless, uninspired, boring, badly written rubbish

Review:

This book is a major, major disappointment. Obviously edited backwards from what Frith considers the key issues from today's perspective and not a real diary at all, this is a collection of pointless anecdotes and tedious magazine politics told in a pre-school fashion.

He never misses an opportunity to tell us what a great guy/boss/boyfriend/employee/editor he is. Urgh!

Avoid like the plague.