Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon –– The Case Against Celebrity - Hardcover

Breitbart, Andrew; Ebner, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471450510 ISBN 13: 9780471450511

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2004

Synopsis

Hollywood, Interrupted is a sometimes frightening, occasionally sad, and frequently hysterical odyssey into the darkest realms of showbiz pathology, the endless stream of meltdowns and flameouts, and the inexplicable behavior on the part of show business personalities.

Charting celebrities from rehab to retox, to jails, cults, institutions, near–death experiences and the Democratic Party, Hollywood, Interrupted takes readers on a surreal field trip into the amoral belly of the entertainment industry. Each chapter covering topics including warped Hollywood child–rearing, bad medicine, hypocritical political maneuvering and the complicit media delivers a meticulously researched, interview–infused, attitude heavy dispatch which analyzes and deconstructs the myths created by the celebrities themselves.

Celebrities somehow believe that it′s their god–given right to inflict their pathology on the rest of us. Hollywood, Interrupted illustrates how these dysfunctional dilettantes are mad as hell... And we′re not going to take it any more.

About this title

About the Author

Andrew Breitbart has played the low–key online sidekick to Matt Drudge on the infamous Drudge Report for five years. From his newsroom–cum–home office in LA, Breitbart has shared site chores of keeping up with the demanding 24/7 news–cycle for an audience that now reaches well into the millions. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, and New York Post, among others. Breitbart also co–produced a documentary set to air on the History Channel in 2004. He has worked as a researcher and webmaster for Arianna Huffington and MAD TV, among others, and delivered pizzas to the stars in Brentwood. Breitbart lives in Los Angeles with his wife Susie and their two children.

Mark Ebner is an award–winning investigative journalist who has covered all aspects of celebrity culture for Spy, Rolling Stone, Details, Los Angeles magazine, Premiere, Salon, Spin, and New Times among others. He has repeatedly positioned himself in harm′s way, conducting over 50 in–depth investigations into such subjects as Scientology, pit bull fighting in South Central Los Angeles, the Ku Klux Klan in Texas, celebrity stalkers, sports groupies, college suicides, and Hepatitus C in Hollywood. Ebner has produced for and/or appeared as a journalist–commentator on NBC, MSNBC, A&E, FX, E!, Entertainment television. He hosted the nationally syndicated radio program, Drastic Radio in 2000 and is Editor at Large for LA Innuendo magazine. Ebner lives in Venice, California, with his two dogs, Roxie and Poorboy.

From the Back Cover

"Rosemary′s baby has grown up and is running Hollywood. One of America′s greatest industries has become one of the most destructive. Entertainment titans like Walt Disney, Morrie Ryskind, and Frank Capra have been replaced by people whose idea of a good Christmas movie involves Santa having sex in the back seat of a car with a barmaid shouting ′∗∗∗ me Santa ∗∗∗ me!′ People you wouldn′t allow to meet your children are spending hours alone with your children. Hollywood, Interrupted describes the misogynist, pill–popping degenerates who now define American culture." Ann Coulter, bestselling author

"This is a great book to read and a dangerous book to write. Breitbart and Ebner can hide in my basement when the Powers that Be in Hollywood put out a contract on them." Jonah Goldberg, National Review

"Half Hollywood Babylon III, half Book of Virtues Breitbart and Ebner′s juicy polemic does for Hollywood celebrities what Liar′s Poker did for Wall Street Investment bankers. This basic critique rings true to me , and I live here (well, nearby, anyway). Their book will . . . rip the lid off the decadent culture of the showbiz rich. . . but who would have suspected that Barbara Streisand was actually a good mother?" Mickey Kaus, Slate magazine columnist

"Hollywood is worse than you ever imagined, and Hollywood, Interrupted pulls no punches. It would be depressing, if it weren′t so hilarious." Prof. Glenn Reynolds, InstaPundit.com, Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee

"Hollywood, Interrupted is a raucous, though often sobering, reflection on today′s celebrity industry, which can often seduce and repulse in equal measure. Breitbart and Ebner′s book is a comprehensive, funny, and sharp examination of the people and institutions angling to shape the country′s politics, culture, and morality. And few of these tinseltown pillars are spared the searing scrutiny, from Kabbalah devotees to the ′heterosexual Tom Cruise." The book reverberates with salesmen of every stripe: hustlers peddling sex, drugs, information, ideology, dreams, hokum, and even nonstick frying pans. And since Hollywood is controlled by some very warped and unprincipled souls, the buyer ought to beware." William Bastone, Editor and co–founder, TheSmokingGun.com

From the Inside Flap

These are some of the reasons why Hollywood′s misbehaving stars do what they do, but over the past few years, their stories have become so outrageous that it′s hard to tell what they′re actually thinking if they′re thinking at all!

In this entertainment industry exposé, Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner pull back the curtain to reveal the twisted culture of Hollywood and the preposterous penchants of today′s high–profile celebrities. From John Travolta, Tom Cruise, and Ann Heche to Eddie Murphy, Oliver Stone, and Courtney Love, Hollywood, Interrupted presents the mind–altered behavior of the most reality–challenged celebrities from all walks of life and every genre.

Hollywood, Interrupted explores how the pathological behavior of celebrities has destroyed comedy, snuffed relationships, and demeaned family values. Each chapter delivers a meticulously researched, interview–infused, attitude–heavy dispatch which analyzes and deconstructs the myths created by celebrities and their way–too–protective handlers.

You′ll enter a world where:

• Celebrities and Hollywood power players engage in "cyber," "off–line" sex and subterfuge with a young America Online customer service agent
• "Young Hollywood" swing clubs and "porno–tainment" become mainstream diversions
• Statutory rapist Roman Polanski can win a Best Director Oscar, but can′t collect it because of the criminal conviction against him in the United States
• Some of the most famous stars send their children to an elite high school with a curriculum that includes extracurricular cross–dressing and a mandatory pseudo–therapeutic program called "Mysteries"
• Celebrity nannies get so stressed they′ve formed a Beverly Hills support group
• Mathew Perry, Robert Downwy Jr., and Ben Affleck, among others, vacation at "five star" rehab resort centers
• Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss can emerge from prison a born–again celebrity, ready to cash in

Frequently hysterical and occasionally frightening, Hollywood, Interrupted digs deep to uncover how in Hollywood cults rule, Dr. Feelgood stands ready to fill your prescription, celebrity kids shoot speedballs, and your neighbor runs a brothel.

Both entertaining and engaging, Hollywood, Interrupted reveals the real Hollywood and mocks the movie mavens, sitcom screwballs, and musical misfits who view being on medication, under house arrest, in rehab, or on deathwatch as just part of the job.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0471450510
• ISBN 13: 9780471450511
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 416