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Confessions Series #5
Confessions of a Showbiz Reporter
Press junkets. Premiers. Dom Perignon. They’re all in a day’s work for your average Hollywood celebrity. But, what’s it like on the other side of the microphone?
In this no-holds-barred memoir, showbiz reporter Holly Forest reveals the less glamorous side of the world’s most glamorous industry: show business.
In this no-holds-barred memoir, showbiz reporter Holly Forest reveals the less glamorous side of the world’s most glamorous industry: show business.
- GenresNonfiction
271 pages, Paperback
First published July 18, 2013
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65 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 8, 2017
a quick fun read. so recognizable for any journalist , showbiz or not. the chapter about college took be straight back to my journo classes. vox pops, hunting for news, finding interesting things and your teacher not liking your idea. that was all me during college. Forrest tells about meeting the celebs for interviews and how some are so down to earth. How the showbiz press changed over the years and how famous people give you the feeling they remember you but actually they don 't. Again, spot on. Been there, done that. How you have to do sh*tty jobs at first before you get the real deal. Or how you get thrown into the water and all you can do is try to keep your head up because you are the newbie on duty and something big happens (yes, I am talking about you, pope Franciscus. Whole afternoon/evening I am sitting at my desk, the only evening/night shift I have that week, doing stuff for future articles and somewhere in the evening BAM there is white smoke. There goes my early night. And after that I knew I could cope with time pressure and deadlines. ) So this was a great read.
February 29, 2020
Absolutely love the confessions books, so cool to be able to dip into someones lifestyle and see the good and bad of what they do, you dont really hear much about showbiz reports side of things as they're always the interviewers so it was good to hear from their perspective and see what it was all about!
January 16, 2022
Not one of my favourite confessions books. Found this a bit boring and monotonous, nothing much interesting seems to happen.
62/365 2022
62/365 2022
January 14, 2016
Not exactly revealing...
I picked this up in a charity shop, and being a fan of the odd bit of celebrity and media behind-the-scenes thought I'd give it a go.
This is easy reading and written reasonably recently the likes of Beiber, Pattinson and Kardashian are name-checked among these pages alongside Hollywood stalwarts such as Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford and Cameron Diaz. However, anyone reading this expecting some nuggets of celebrity gossip will be sorely disappointed.
'Holly Forrest' - we are told at the beginning of the book - is the pseudonym of a British female showbiz reporter, who tells us how she started in the business (which I admit is interesting) before commencing with a series of short chapters about either aspects of the celebrity journalism world (junkets, press conferences, daytime TV shows, being an extra in a film, the Cannes film festival and film premieres) or specific celebrities (Beyonce, Hugh Jackman, and Paris Hilton to name a few) she has encountered.
The insider knowledge that is imparted here, however, is hardly earth-shattering: Harrison Ford can be moody, Cameron Diaz and Hugh Jackman are nice, Justin Beiber is sexy and Justin Timberlake does not like discussing his private life. I can glean just about the same amount of information casting my eye over the celebrity news pages of a daily paper.
Unfortunately then, I spent most of the book wondering who the author really is and who exactly was the celebrity she is referring to when she does actually let slip a mildly interesting anecdote (she had a brief fling with the brother of a famous actor, for example).
One other thing I found a little strange in the book was the reference to a colleague's suicide written in the same breezy tone as the rest of the book; only for the author to admit a few chapters on, that summing up the mental health of a celebrity subject who is clearly going through a rough patch in 250 words isn't exactly ideal behaviour.
At the end of the book it is made clear this is one of a series of 'Confessions of..' books (other titles in the series being written by GPs and New York taxi drivers, for example) and therefore perhaps this has been written with a general reader in mind; who - presumably - has never picked up a celebrity gossip mag or tuned into the E! Channel before. However for someone like myself who has read a few celebrity biographies and entertainment industry books this didn't really tell me anything new and I would suggest anyone actually looking for some insight into either entertainment journalism or the latest celebrity news, pick up the latest gossip magazine or look elsewhere!
I picked this up in a charity shop, and being a fan of the odd bit of celebrity and media behind-the-scenes thought I'd give it a go.
This is easy reading and written reasonably recently the likes of Beiber, Pattinson and Kardashian are name-checked among these pages alongside Hollywood stalwarts such as Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford and Cameron Diaz. However, anyone reading this expecting some nuggets of celebrity gossip will be sorely disappointed.
'Holly Forrest' - we are told at the beginning of the book - is the pseudonym of a British female showbiz reporter, who tells us how she started in the business (which I admit is interesting) before commencing with a series of short chapters about either aspects of the celebrity journalism world (junkets, press conferences, daytime TV shows, being an extra in a film, the Cannes film festival and film premieres) or specific celebrities (Beyonce, Hugh Jackman, and Paris Hilton to name a few) she has encountered.
The insider knowledge that is imparted here, however, is hardly earth-shattering: Harrison Ford can be moody, Cameron Diaz and Hugh Jackman are nice, Justin Beiber is sexy and Justin Timberlake does not like discussing his private life. I can glean just about the same amount of information casting my eye over the celebrity news pages of a daily paper.
Unfortunately then, I spent most of the book wondering who the author really is and who exactly was the celebrity she is referring to when she does actually let slip a mildly interesting anecdote (she had a brief fling with the brother of a famous actor, for example).
One other thing I found a little strange in the book was the reference to a colleague's suicide written in the same breezy tone as the rest of the book; only for the author to admit a few chapters on, that summing up the mental health of a celebrity subject who is clearly going through a rough patch in 250 words isn't exactly ideal behaviour.
At the end of the book it is made clear this is one of a series of 'Confessions of..' books (other titles in the series being written by GPs and New York taxi drivers, for example) and therefore perhaps this has been written with a general reader in mind; who - presumably - has never picked up a celebrity gossip mag or tuned into the E! Channel before. However for someone like myself who has read a few celebrity biographies and entertainment industry books this didn't really tell me anything new and I would suggest anyone actually looking for some insight into either entertainment journalism or the latest celebrity news, pick up the latest gossip magazine or look elsewhere!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2017
Although originally published in 2013, this is still a fun read, Holly Forrest is a pseudonym for a real showbiz reporter and in this book she reveals what it is like to interview the famous and not so famous, attend premieres (a lot of standing around by the sound of it) and all the ups and downs of the celebrity reporter.
Although she does mention some stars by name, Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp, and Tom Cruise among others, a lot of the time she refers to them as the actor who was in a film about……, from which some people might be able to work out who she is referring to me, on the other hand wouldn’t have a clue because I don’t generally read the gossip columns so need to actually be told who it is, and in most cases I would still probably say ‘Who?’
Still a good fun read
Although she does mention some stars by name, Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp, and Tom Cruise among others, a lot of the time she refers to them as the actor who was in a film about……, from which some people might be able to work out who she is referring to me, on the other hand wouldn’t have a clue because I don’t generally read the gossip columns so need to actually be told who it is, and in most cases I would still probably say ‘Who?’
Still a good fun read
October 20, 2013
Holly Forrest recalls some of the memorable moments from her career, including some of the celebrities she's met. This is total and utter fluff, pure escapism that does not require the use of any brain cells.
June 17, 2018
I’m a big fan of the “confessions” books so I was expecting a brilliant insight into the world of a showbiz reporter with this one! Whilst I understand that Holly Forrest isn’t in a position to “name and shame” - probably for a huge list of legal reasons - I found this all to be terribly vague and in parts, dull. I didn’t really get an insight into Holly’s world and nothing that was mentioned really came as a surprise to me..
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews