Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death [Hardcover]

Rita Cosby (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 4, 2007

YOU PROBABLY THINK YOU KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH LOST HER SON.

SHE ACCIDENTALLY OVERDOSED. SHE WAS A DRUG ADDICT.

YOU DON'T KNOW A THING...

She was famous for being famous-Americana at its Scarlet Letter-wearing best. A bodacious young girl from Texas, Anna remade herself into the centerfold of the world. She was a "dumb blonde," a stripper, a Playboy Playmate, who boldly took her case against her billionaire husband's family all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her tragic life and untimely death evoke an odd mix of fascination, shock, and dismay. And through it all, there still exists a voracious thirst to discover more about who she actually was...and how she really died.

In a book that is sure to surprise even the most avid pop culture junkies, Rita Cosby blows the lid off this astounding story. After an in-depth investigation, this is the definitive journalistic account of the Anna Nicole Smith saga-with unearthed secrets and explosive, never-before-told information.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

An Emmy-award winning journalist, Rita Cosby hosted the top-rated show on MSNBC, "Rita Cosby: Live & Direct." She also hosted Fox New Channel's highly rated programs, "Fox News Live with Rita Cosby" and "The Big Story Weekend Edition with Rita Cosby." Some of her groundbreaking interviews include: an exclusive interview with Slobodan Milosevic while he was imprisoned at The Hague; an exclusive interview with Yasser Arafat when his compound was under siege; she was the first journalist to see the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo and witness an actual interrogation; and a rare, private meeting with Pope John Paul II after receiving an exclusive letter from Timothy McVeigh explaining why he carried out the Oklahoma City bombing. Having interviewed more than a dozen world leaders and four US Presidents, she also made headlines for her interviews with Michael Jackson, David Berkowitz and Dr. Jack Kevorkian. She has been a featured guest on hundreds of television and radio shows worldwide and earned her two bachelors' degrees from the University of South Carolina.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446406112
• ISBN-13: 978-0446406116
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #469,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( S ) > Smith, Anna Nicole

More About the Author

Rita Cosby is a renowned TV host and veteran correspondent, who anchored highly-rated primetime shows on Fox News Channel and MSNBC. She is currently a special correspondent for the top-rated CBS Syndicated Newsmagazine, Inside Edition. Honors for the three-time Emmy winner include the Matrix Award and the Jack Anderson Award. She was also selected by Cosmopolitan Magazine as a "Fun and Fearless Female." A recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Lech Walesa Freedom Award, she hosts the National Memorial Day Parade broadcast to all US military installations around the world. Her first book, Blonde Ambition, was a New York Times bestseller.

Through her book QUIET HERO, Rita Cosby is partnering with the USO on a massive, new campaign called Operation Enduring Care, which will help wounded warriors and their families. Book proceeds will go towards this $100 million initiative, as well as two museums in Poland, the Warsaw Rising Museum and The Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which is being built where the Warsaw Ghetto once stood.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars With access to the inner circle, Cosby reveals their machinations and double-crosses January 21, 2008

By Jessica Lux

Format:Hardcover

Blonde Ambition is television journalist Rita Cosby's contribution to what is sure to be a genre of non-fiction about Anna Nicole Smith. Cosby was close to the Anna Nicole story, as a personal friend and confidante of Anna's mother Virgie Arthur, who invited the journalist to the funeral. Just eight months after Anna Nicole Smith's death, Blond Ambition was published (with 10% of the advances and royalties donated to the D.A.R.E. program).

Cosby pulls no punches in this slim volume, which is quick to point out inconsistencies and mysteries in the accounts of Anna Nicole's life and death. Her most shocking allegation is that lawyer/faux husband Howard K. Stern had a gay love affair with Larry Birkhead, the paparazzi ex0boyfriend who fathered baby Danniellyn, More immediately believable assertions are that Anna Nicole's doctors were irresponsible in the management of her prescriptions and that individuals in the Anna Nicole inner circle are money-obsessed. Everyone has lawyers/agents/handlers striking deals with the news outlets and the legal system, the majority of which are kept under wraps.

Rita Cosby concludes her exposé with a carefully researched timeline of the verifiable events in the 24-hour period preceding Anna Nicole's death. Ana Nicole was clearly manipulated by a sea of sharks in life, and the feeding frenzy continues after her death--for which one or more people in her inner circle may be responsible.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A Nest of Vipers May 12, 2009

By B. Martin

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I just finished reading Blonde Ambition and a phrase my Grandma used instantly came to mind...what a nest of vipers! It seems to me that everyone in Anna Nicoles life but her son Daniel used her, abused her, or was out to get something from her. Less than a month before his death Daniel contacted a private investigator because he greatly feared Howard K Stern would end up killing Anna with drugs, he also asked more than one person to go with him to meet Dannielyn because he was afraid for his own life as well. No one he asked agreed to accompany him (yet these same people were suddenly able to rush to the Bahamas after his death to join the publicity circus)Daniel took his last breath with the P.I.'s card in his pocket. Sadly, his fears for himself and his Mother were justified.
Rita Cosby's reporting skills are questionable in my opinion. So many things in this book were attributed to annonymous sources that I was left with doubts about the veracity of the information I was reading. I can't say that I enjoyed this book as it was a sad commentary on a sad life. However it was interesting to read about what went on behind the scenes. Had more of the anecdotes and accusations been credited or had a way to be verified I would have added another star. All in all an interesting read but one that left me feeling sort of sickened at the things we humans are capable of doing to each other.

31 of 41 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Blonde Ambition September 13, 2007

By M. Thompson

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you usually read the newspapers; magazine articles; watch TV; this book is a total waste of time.
There is absolutely nothing in it that has not been written, hashed over, beaten to a pulp, that is in there.
I was sorry I bought it as there are so many good books on Amazon to read, and this is not one of them. Do not waste your time.