Train Wreck: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith

by Donna Hogan

She was the most outlandish, outrageous, in-your-face symbol of the age— and suddenly, shockingly, she was gone. In life her antics, adventures, and behavior kept a nation riveted; in death she stunned a world gripped by the surprise and swiftness of her unexpected passing. The woman was, of course, Anna Nicole Smith. With fierce resolve, pluck, luck, and determination, Anna clawed her way to celebrity status, first by landing a centerfold in Playboy magazine, then getting named as Playmate of the Year. She then became a tabloid staple, finding even greater notoriety as she obtained unimaginable wealth after marrying a billionaire more than 60 years her senior. And then, in a moment, she was gone, not yet 40 years old. This is the story of the little girl from west of nowhere, born into a broken, dysfunctional, dirt-poor family, told by the one woman who knew her best— her sister. A Horatio Alger story with a bitter ending, Train The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith is the definitive story of the rise and swift fall of one of the most compelling characters to blaze across the American sky.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

284 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2007

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written by Anna Nicole Smith's estranged sister, Train Wreck is that rare hit piece that winds up being a greater indictment of its author than its target. Hogan's naked envy and resentment of her sister is on tasteless display throughout. Virtually everything the troubled Smith ever did is presented in the worst possible light whereas Hogan, despite multiple transgressions of her own, frames everything she herself does as rooted in virtue and good intentions. Sure she profited off of her sibling's fame and freely attacked her in the media, but she meant well! Beset by problems with addiction and celebrity culture throughout her life, Anna Nicole Smith was far from a perfect person, but after reading Train Wreck I definitely rank her above her sister.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad. Bad. Bad. Only gave it a 1, because zero wasn't an option.

[Kitt-e-kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this is a fast cash book. You heard all the stuff Anna did on Entertainment tonight and tabloids so you kinda knew already Anna's stories. This was written by her half sister who really wasn't that close to her growing up (as maybe some of the other people in her family that was interviewed for the book and worked for Anna). So Anna's half sister sazs she wrote this book to hear her side of the story but who is she?? It's not like she's famous to have to explain herself to anybody. I really think she did it for her 5 mins of fame. If anyone should write a book about Anna should be her mom. Even though they didn't get along at the end her mother did take care of her son Daniel until Anna became famous and wanted him back as a little boy. Anna had no strong parenting in her life and no father around (until she came famous) so she grew up trusting too many people who took advantage of her. I think the book was written well enough to understand how things happened that you heard about in the tabloids (court fighting for money from the old man she married, etc..) as if all the stuff is true from her half sister's side we'll never know since Anna never got to put out her own autobiography of herself. I picked this book up at the dollar store but wouldn't pay full price sticker price.

[Myra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a poorly written piece of material. Whether or not the book is factually correct is neither here nor there, in my opinion. Rather, I take issue with the extremely poor editing of this book. There are multitudes of grammatical and stylistic errors, repeats of whole paragraphs, and some very common names were mixed together to produce wrong names.

If you are in any way a fan of the late Anna Nicole Smith, don't read this book. Frankly, you wouldn't like because it doesn't really offer much information into the life of ANS. Moreover, the information offered to the reader is more about Donna Hogan (the author) and her clear-cut jealousy and need to defame her half-sister.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the most awful thing I've read in quite awhile...it's written my her estranged half sister who apparently feels she has some amazing story to tell which she doesn't and even if she did her writing is so horrific I doubt anyone would be able to muscle through this rag

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick depiction of the short life of Anna Nicole Smith. I read this book in a few hours. It was not a bad book, but you could tell there was not to much research done to back up the facts. I felt like i was reading tabloids in chapter form.

[linda sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was a total sensationalism piece as i originally thought it would be. nothing really new except for the sister of anna nicole's boring life. lame.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

she was fierce

[Kelly Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by her half sister, who comes across very bitter

[Daphne Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept my interest at best... an ok read. The BEST thing about the book was the hot pink cover! That's the only reason I bought it, lol

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought it was ok. The book was free. I didn't really know much about her before I read this. Do keep in mind that this is her sisters point of view on things.

[Whitsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a terrible tragedy of a life, i feel bad for her son. And how sad she was to manipulate money and fame from everyone. But her sister is no better for writing about it.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anna Nicole Smith was born in Texas in 1967. She began her career with Playboy in 1992, and did some modeling work for Guess Jeans around the same time. During this time period, she adopted her stage name of Anna Nicole, getting rid of her birth name of Vickie Lynn. She did a considerable amount of modeling work, being featured in several magazines and ad campaigns. I actually remember her from her role on Ally McBeal and The Anna Nicole Show. Of course, her marriage to her considerably older husband, J. Howard Marshall was all over the media at the time when I first became aware of her. Before she died, her son, Daniel, died, which caused her great emotional pain. She was never quite the same after that, and most believe that her drug use began or escalated terribly around that time, resulting in her own death.

This book posits that the author is a person who knew Anna Nicole Smith the best. In fact, the author is her estranged half sister, with whom she had little to no relationship. Being related to someone via blood does not mean that you have an intimate relationship with them and are able to speak about their lives and their secrets. I have very little to do with a lot of my family members, and though they may be able to comment on my childhood, they certainly know nothing about me, my family, or my life now. The author of this book included interviews with Anna Nicole's brother, who seemed much less like he was trying to cash in on his famous sibling's name and death than the actual author of the book. This was more a book about the life of Donna Hogan and how she thought and felt than anything substantial about Anna Nicole. In addition to the fact that Donna Hogan had plenty of opinions and conflicting feelings about her family and experiences, which she should have worked out in therapy instead of writing this book, the book was poorly written. It was poorly edited. It was just not enjoyable at all to read, even for whatever tell-all gossip she tried to include.

I rarely rate things one star, and I rarely regret taking time to read something, but here we are. I grabbed this book on a whim last week when I went to the library and they didn't have the books I was looking for. I remember Anna Nicole Smith being on tv and remember her dying, so I thought this would be an interesting book. It wasn't very long either, so that was another selling point. If I could turn back time.... I am sure that there are more interesting books on Anna Nicole Smith out there somewhere for anyone interested in her, but I would skip this one if I were you.

[Kerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's start this review out w a little background story shall we? I think we can all mostly agree this isnt my typical type o book... But one day my mother handed it to me with the statement "I couldn't resist the title just reminded me of you". Now, now, my mother and I don't go out trolling for men at the local VFW or dance on tabletops or anything (well together at least...but I've heard stories after tequila shots were ingested)... but I think it explains more than a smidge of where i get my sense o humor from...

Onto this tarp that's called a book... Anna Nicole's half sister takes this opportunity to literally dump on her deceased sister. Even after the introduction this woman seems like a total (rhymes with runt). But then I haven't lived through what she's been thru w Anna...but dont we all have our family fun stories? Most of them don't get displayed in Playboy is all. My family is far klassier... like Maxium.

This book really just reads like Anna Nicole's sister wanted some time of her own in the limelight. In the first chapter is titled 'Vicki Lynn Hogan', yet all Donna Hogan does is talk about herself and how bad she had it and how she was such a martyr for her siblings. Anna didn't even grow up in the same household!! Last I checked no one gave a damn about Donna Hogan. Now, Donna Summers... whole different ball game there.

Meanwhile to the "writer" who transcribed this...did you really just write the simple sentences I wouldn't be surprised Donna likely spoke in? I mean you could write slightly like she spoke educated English past a 3rd grade level. I mean, at least TRY.

Then again, I suppose the demographic pandered to in this book are along such a level considering the author felt the need to explain that Yale law school is one of the two or three most prestigious in the law schools in the U.S...you sure that isn't one of those mail-order degree places?? I'm fairly certain I saw Sally Struthers peddling Yale law degrees on an infomercial the other night while ingesting ungodly amounts of junk food and crying when the commercials with the kids with flies on their faces came on. Oh my, that wasn't meant for public consumption... like this book.

In all, this book didn't make me view Anna Nicole with any more disgust though that seemed to be the point. Instead, I look at Donna Hogan with a whole new batch of disdain (freshly made!).

So really, thanks for the insight Donna, but your knowledge of the sister you didn't grow up with, who shut you out for the last 10 years of her life, is likely about as worthwhile as my own account of Anna Nicole. So for the love of god, put something in your pipe and smoke it so we don't have to hear you anymore!

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book. The author jumped around alot, switching between stories, and at times it seemed she wanted to talk about her life more than Anna Nicole's. Even the pictures were mostly of her, I thought that this was a book about her sister? She said some pretty inflamatory things about alot of people, which made me question her credibility. She hadn't talked to her sister in over ten years so she had nothing insightful to say about her later years. Even the editing was bad, words were repeated, in one section a paragraph was repeated. It seems like they were in a big rush to get this book out in order to cash in on her death. If you want to read this do like I did and get it out of the library, this woman does not deserve to make any money from this.

[Guinevere · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this book on audio - this is not a book that I would have sat down and read, so I am more tolerant as I was getting stuff done while I listened to it. :) I have never really followed anything about Anna Nicole Smith other than what I saw in the grocery line at the time, so I really don't know one way or the other how factual or opinionated this book is. I think it's pretty difficult to write something like this and not come across as very defensive at times, and that certainly happened in this book. As an outsider, one also can't help but wonder what may have been warped to put the author in the most positive light, but really, I don't care much one way or the other and it was perfectly entertaining to listen to during chores!

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is written by Donna Hogan, Anna Nicole's half sister. At times I felt as if she wanted to be the spotlight in the book. Too much of her own personal life and photos of her and her friends are unnecessarily included. Her many grammatical errors hurts her effectiveness as a writer along with the passive aggressive manner in which she writes about her beloved half-sister, Anna Nicole, someone she really didn't know very well obviously. It's hard to keep up with her style of writing as she jumps from topic to topic. From reading this book, I can totally understand now why Anna wanted nothing to do with her family.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave the book a chance, even after reading the harsh reviews and can honestly say that this book could have been written better by the uneducated Anna Nicole herself. The title itself is completely accurate, only it speaks of the book itself not the intended subject, Anna Nicole smith. There is no order to the madness and at one point even repeats an entire paragraph word for word. I think the editor went on vacation during the production of this waste of paper. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time.

[Brandi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this at a rummage sale for a quarter, which is $0.25 too much. I tried, I really did, but this book is just. so. awful.... It's poorly written and oh so cheesy. Kind of like trying to read a pizza, which would probably be more entertaining and interesting. Mmmm, pizza....

Note - This book could have been improved had the editor corrected the repeating text and errors that occurred within the pages of the book. The author did do a fair job of compiling information, but it did not come together.

[Debra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anna Nicole Smith was, of course, a train wreck but then so is this book. Ghost written for ANS's sister, there is very little of substance and much petty sibling rivalry from another another train wreck. Very glad that I downloaded the audiobook from my library and I didn't pay for it Why they did is another story. Now off to take a shower to wash the sleaze off ....

[Melanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too early to tell. I'm not expecting great things, but curiosity has gotten the better of me on this one.

So, an update - unreadable - marking it finished just to be done with the darned thing. Really, really bad. And, not in the Nat'l Enquirer, guilty pleasure way, just plain bad.

[Traci · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I learned more than enough about Anna Nicole- too much! I got a little tired of her nudity and using people and how she treated family too.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't judge me. I got this book as a gag prize during a Bingo night. If I get a book, I'm going to read it. I'm on page 12, and this is already pretty terrible.

[Kelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, perfect title for this book, if it's true.

[C · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't judge me. I saw this audiobook and I'd read too many heavy books in a row. I stopped listening after I realized that it's written by Anna's angry sister who has nothing interesting to say.

[Luigi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was going to class this as non fiction but it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't. The book itself imho is a bit of a trainwreck of a tragic disfunctional family. Not a great read at all.

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this book 0 stars I would. This is a sad book by a sad woman

[Kat]

Well written, but a definite cash-in from the family.

[Jessica Coulter · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a sad book in so many ways.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donna Hogan was Anna Nicole Smith’s half-sister. Hogan gives a lot of insight into Anna Nicole Smith’s life, and this book reads like the National Enquirer with lots of good scoops.

Anna Nicole Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan and had her son Daniel when she was just 18 years old with her first husband, Billy Wayne Smith. She worked as a stripper and became Playboy’s Playmate of the Year in 1993, a representative for Guess? Jeans, appeared in a few movies, and had her own TV show.

Donna Hogan states that Anna Nicole was a train wreck as she was all over the place in her quests for fame and money. She married billionaire Howard Marshall II when he was 89 years old and she was just 26. They did seem to really love each other, but it did not sound like she consummated the marriage, but had affairs elsewhere. Marshall certainly enjoyed having a young wife around him, but all his riches still could not stop her swaying.

After his death, there was a lawsuit between Nicole and one of his sons over Marshall’s assets. Never dull, I did find Nicole to be interesting, but felt there was a sadness in her. Her son died suddenly from a drug overdose. Soon after, she did have the daughter which she always wanted but she too died from a drug overdose when her daughter was just a baby. Had she lived longer than her 39 years, I wonder if she would have eventually found peace.