Dish:: How Gossip Became the News and the News Became Just Another Show [Paperback]

Jeannette Walls (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2001

Gossip. It's more than just hearsay. society columns, and supermarket tabloids. It has, like it or not, become a mainstay of American pop culture. In Dish, industry insider Jeannette Walls gives this provocative subject its due, offering a comprehensive, serious exploration of gossip and its social, historical, and political significance. Examining the topic from the inside out, Walls looks at the players; the origins of gossip, from birth of People magazine to the death of Lady Di; and how technology including the Internet will continue to change the face gossip. As compelling and seductive as its subject matter, Dish brilliantly reveals the fascinating inner workings of a phenomenon that is definitely here to stay.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating, dishy story." -- --Booklist

"A history of how gossip became the news...Saucy, sassy..." -- --Los Angeles Times

"A truly intelligent and absorbing examination of how gossip took over the news." -- --The Boston Sunday Globe

"DISH is a serious and accurate history of a persistent part of media coverage." -- --St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Dazzling.... You have to read this book from cover to cover. It's great, a wickedly intelligent wallow." -- --Liz Smith, New York Post

"Hard to put down...DISH is irresistible...a revealing look at gossip in the early twenty-first century." -- --US Weekly

"It's an old fashioned sideshow, high-spirited, mean-spirited, and plenty of guilty fun...Snoopy scatoscopy at its juiciest." -- --Kirkus Reviews

"Provocative and invariably entertaining. Walls gives dishing the dirt its historical, social, and political due." -- --Publishers Weekly

"Strewn with delicious tidbits." -- --Entertainment Weekly

A well-researched and intelligent exploration of gossip then and now." -- --New York Daily News

About the Author

Jeanette Walls is the former gossip correspondent for E! Channel and New York Magazine's "Intelligencer". She can now be seen on MSNBC three mornings a week and appears on MSNBC online four days a week. Ms. Walls lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038081045X
• ISBN-13: 978-0380810451
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeannette Walls lives in Virginia and is married to the writer John Taylor. She is a regular contributor to MSNBC and has worked at several publications, including Esquire, USA Today, and New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What really goes on behind the scenes.., January 30, 2001

By 

"koranda" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dish:: How Gossip Became the News and the News Became Just Another Show (Paperback)

If you have any fascination with gossip/celebrities or how the "media machine" works, this is a great book. It is very fast pace, tracing the history of gossip columns from the early "penny papers" through Walter Winchell, Louella Parsons, the ET tonight type programming, and Matt Drudge. Lots of interesting tidbits about celebrities that I never knew, plus lots of information on how exactly the "publicity people" in Hollywood earn their keep. Who gets access to stars, why, and the hoops they jump through to keep it. I have to admit, it made me wonder about my own character (why am I so interested in what perfect strangers are up to) but then again, it is all in fun. A fun, quick read, with lots of historical information and background.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great research into what happens behind the scenes, August 15, 2010

By 

Chaunie Langland "Phrag Lady" (Northern California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dish:: How Gossip Became the News and the News Became Just Another Show (Paperback)

Ms. Walls obviously did a lot of research for this book. It is well written, easy to read and a real eye-opener. The book follows the development of information published in newspapers and on television from the early days of Hollywood.

The biggest shocker in here for me was the revelations about how 60 Minutes operates. I grew up watching 60 minutes and believing in their stories whole heartedly. Well, the integrity level is not quite where I thought is was.

I don't avidly follow celebrity news, but since reading this book, I view it with a very different outlook and spend time considering who may actually be doing what to whom. (Or should it be to who?) When the recent Tiger Woods bru-ha-ha hit the news, it left me with some questions. The first one being - why now? Obviously this has been going on for a long time, why are the media reporting it NOW? Why not several years ago? Tiger must of ticked off the wrong media person.

For a great read, some interesting tidbits on past celebrities, and some insight into how the news is selected for reporting I strongly recommend this book. I also recommend Ms. Walls story of her childhood, The Glass Castle. A gripping story, sometimes I had to put it down for a while because I wasn't sure I was strong enough for what was coming next. At the beginning of the book I had to keep reminding myself that is was not fiction but a true story.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Interesting!, January 14, 2010

By 

E. Samuels "Book lover" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dish:: How Gossip Became the News and the News Became Just Another Show (Paperback)

I found "Dish" to be extremely interesting. Not only does the book give an in depth account of the rise and fall and then the resurrection of the gossip column and the tabloid, but it also paints a fascinating picture of how the media, and the "news" became what it is today. While this book was written in 2000, it is still timely, as it clearly depicts the changes in the media industry that have led us to the point where White House party crashers can become celebrities rather than inmates, and reality tv can supplant both creative and truly newsworthy programming.