Smash, Crash and Burn: Tales From The Edge Of Celebrity

by Shannon Bradley-Colleary

From the poignant requiem for former flame,legendary martial artist, Bruce Lee's charismatic son Brandon, to the hilarious degradations of dancing at the 1990 VMAs as a Suicide Blonde for INXS to a sweet interlude with a pre-fame David Schwimmer, Bradley-Colleary brings us into the world of celebrity circa 1988-1995 through the eyes of the hapless outlier. These aren't just a series of brushes-with-celebrity anecdotes, but a rites-of-passage story where art may never bring Fame and Fortune, but can be a conduit to healing and finally finding Home.

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 21, 2013

About the author

Shannon Bradley-Colleary is the screenwriter of 2021 Lifetime movie, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff," starring Heather Locklear. She also wrote the script for indie film, "To The Stars" which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2019 and was released by Samuel Goldwyn in 2020, starring Malin Akerman, Tony Hale, Kara Hayward, Liana Liberato and Lucas Jade Zumann.

She's the author of five books and blogs at TheWomanFormerlyKnownAsBeautiful.com

Her work has been featured in The Oprah Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed & more. She's been on The Today Show, HuffPo Live, NPR and CNN.

Reviews

[Chanele]

Shannon is hilarious, somehow managing to be both vain and self-deprecating in the same breath. It's a fun journey to go alongside her as she stumbles her way through life, love (or just sex), and career aspirations in the late 80s/early 90s. She introduces us to famous people (most notably her famous boyfriend, the late and truly great Brandon Lee), the wanna be famous people, and everyone in between. It's all good fun. It was a quick read, ironically in (of all places) the Los Angeles airport.

[Jenn]

I enjoyed this, the author is naturally funny and very honest.

[Theresa Verhaalen]

Hilarious sarcastic romp

I loved reading this and was intrigued by an excerpt that detailed her relationship with Brandon Lee. But it's more than just one story, it gives a raw and funny portrayal of what it's like being out there trying to become an actress.