Customer Reviews

House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Hilton name has become synonymous with trashy behavior, media stunts and sex tapes, as well as one of the most infamous nonentities of the twenty-first century.

So it was inevitable that somebody would write a juicy tell-all about that family. It's misnamed, however -- Jerry Oppenheimer's "House of Hilton" should have been called "Paris Hilton and the Four Generations From Hell That Spawned Her." Because that basically describes this moderately juicy little tell all, which could use more telling and more Hiltons.

After an introduction revealing that Kathy Hilton is basically an older version of her daughter -- and unafraid to come up with ridiculous lies -- the book starts delving into her family history... backwards. Kathy and Rick became the trashy, demanding lordlings of the hotel, treating the less moneyed as so many unpaid servants so they could go partying.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it turns out. Kathy was the daughter of a frustrated singer (known as Big Kathy) who got pregnant, and had to give up her aspirations. But instead she decided to achieve fame through her daughters, turning them into diva child actors -- and Kathy into a younger version of herself. Namely, a psychotic user of everyone she came across.

Just when you're despairing of anything about the title family, Oppenheimer thankfully changes his focus to Conrad Hilton, the last of the clan to do any real work. He was a shrewd businessman who turned a single dusty hotel into a massive chain -- the Depression was only a stumbling block for this guy. He was also a devoted womanizer, with a pair of sultry spitfire wives -- one of whom slept with his son.

But his children and grandchildren managed to outpace Connie's wild life. While he made an empire, son Nicky married and divorced Elizabeth Taylor, chased numerous starlets, and immersed himself in drugs and booze. And then there is Nicky's great-niece -- the infamous Paris, a media prostitute reknowned for constant sex, partying, drunkenness and snotty behavior. And her X-rated tape, of course.

"House of Hilton" never pretends to be an objective classy tell-all. After all, look at the subject matter -- Oppenheimer covers everyone from Mafia sons to slutty celebutantes, sociopathic stage moms to abused A-list actresses. It's like a soap opera, except nobody would allow some of these things on daytime television.

Oppenheimer writes in a sort of tabloidy, chatty style here, which isn't surprising when he credits a number of gossip sites and tabloid magazines. But he does turn out interesting tidbits about the Hilton family that weren't previously out in the open. And he casts a jaded eye at older material, such as Nicky Hilton's abuse of Elizabeth Taylor, for the brief months of their marriage.

The only problem with "House of Hilton" is perhaps that it could have used a little more juice and scandal, and it spends too much time on people who are NOT Hiltons even by marriage, such as Big Kathy and her ex-husbands. It would have been more interesting to hear the personal peccadilloes of lesser-known Hiltons than to hear about Big Kathy putting screws in a cheeseburger.

Oppenheimer spends too much time on the Richards family in "House of Hilton," but the book picks up substantially in the second half when he gets to the Hiltons themselves. Light and frothy, with a moderate amount of juice.

This was a fun book to read. I was hoping, though, that it might focus on Hiltons other than just Paris' parents and grandparents. I wanted to know what some of the other Hiltons are up to. I am sure they can't all be like Rick Hilton. I definitely hope some find that education is a good thing - Paris' immediate family sound as if they're dumb as rocks.

This book is exactly what I thought it would be a nice cheap read. Afterall, I got it at the 99 Cents Only store! The author did a brilliant job; when I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know more about Kim Richards because I remember her as a stunning little actress when I was growing up. That is the only reason I got the book I could care less about Paris. When you grow up going to see Disney movies you want to know more about the real life celebrities like Paris' aunt Kim Richards who also played in the Nanny and the Professor as Prudence. So it amazed me that this little girl who is actually beautiful had such an ugly mother(Paris' grandma) I am usually not impressed with child stars but Kim Richards was everything the author portrayed her to be such as having a husky voice, plus more like talking to her boyfriend in the valley(also where I grew up) while he is shot dead, due to him being shady.

When I first picked up HOUSE OF HILTON to read, I thought it was going to be a juicy tell-all about Paris Hilton and her family, especially her parents and the famous lineage back to her great-grandfather who started the whole Hilton Hotel chain. Though some of that is in the book, there is a lot missing and the stories aren't as interesting as I thought they might be.

The book is divided into two major parts. The first section looks at Paris' family on her maternal side while the second section of the book examines the lives of Paris' great-grandfather Conrad and her great-uncle Nick Hilton. The work is bookend by some stories about Paris and a few anecdotes about her sister Nicky. It then follows the life of Paris' mother Kathy Richards and her grandmother "Big" Kathy Dugan Avanzino Richards Catain Fenton. The second half of the book examines how Conrad Hilton built his hotel empire and his very eccentric lifestyle, including his contrary religious devotion and playboy lifestyle. The last part of the book takes an in-depth look at Conrad's son, Nick who lived a lifestyle that parallels Paris'.

I can understand why the book looks at the Paris Hilton's maternal heritage because by examining the lives of her mother and maternal grandmother one can see where Paris learned her sense of entitlement and her gold-digging ways. I realize that much of this information about Paris Hilton's maternal legacy has never been collected together, but I found much of it to be repetitive and not all that interesting. The second half of the book held my attention better. However, as with the first part of the book there is a great deal lacking. The last fourth of the book is all about Nick Conrad, Paris Hilton's great-uncle. Nick was a flagrant playboy and gained fame much the same way that Paris has, simply by using his wealth to become famous. Nick Hilton lived a very wild and interesting life and it makes for a good read and also serves as an example of the heritage that Paris has been given. However, Nick was Paris' great-uncle. The book hardly mentions Paris grandfather Barron, her other great uncle, or even her father. I don't know if it's because their lives were so much more mundane than the other members of the family or what. However, I would have really enjoyed reading something about them because they are more closely related to Paris than Nick was.

The book includes some pictures that help put faces to many of the people the book talks about including several of family member (such as Big Kathy) that most people have never heard of or seen before.

Overall, HOUSE OF HILTON is an okay read. It is filled with facts and tidbits about the Hilton family. It starts off quite slow, but picks up in the second half. Yet, it's not as juicy as I was led to believe. Recommended for people who have a major or invested interest in the Hilton family or anyone who enjoys reading about families of the rich and famous.

First of all, this book finally confirmed what I had suspected of Paris' mother, Kathy's, pedigree. Could not get any worse. And yes, Kathy was as wild (dating one of the Jackson 5 when she was a teen) and the golddigger that I suspected she was. No wonder her daughter also turned out to be a wild, promiscuous, money obsessed, young lady she turned out to be.

I can understand why there would be so much written about Paris' grandmother and there are quite a lot of pages dedicated to her since obviously, Paris is very influenced by her maternal side of the family. However, there was way too much about Nick Hilton, Paris' great uncle. How many examples of his drinking, fighting and wife beating can we possibly read about? Towards the end, I just flipped through the pages until I got to the 3 pages written about Paris.

All in all, not a bad book. Actually had more information and dirt on the maternal side of Paris' family than ever exposed. I would have liked to read more about Paris' parents and their marriage. Aside from the fact that Rick is crude and dumb, there is litte less. I would have loved to have read wild stuff about their marriage and how they managed to stay married all these years.

You will like this book if you love Paris. You will love this book if you hate her!

This book is a great read if you like racey books. If you ever wonder why Paris is the way she is today, just read this book and you'll find out the answers.

I enjoyed reading the book and hated to put it down til I finished. If you are a fan of Paris this is a good book for you to learn a bit about her back ground.

This book is totally mis-named. It gives very little inside about the 'House of Hilton' as the public and hotel professionals would see it. It seems as if the author was indeed influenced by the powers-that-are, and it appears strongly that he changed course on more than one occasion for reasons known/unknown.

As the published product comes across, the author picks mostly on Paris Hilton's grandmother (Big Kathy), which is no longer amongst the living, and then on Conrad's oldest son, Nick, which is also amongst the dead. Other than that Nick would be the great-uncle of the current media 'bore', there is no connection whatsoever between these two (2) main characters of the book.

That Conrad Hilton liked the girls has never been a secret at all. He made his pursuits with humor, charm and much class. That he is made out as a cheapscate, which he was not at all, must have come from the line of 'Big Kathy'; but then again, good, old Connie is dead as well...

Erich E.

This book is about Paris Hilton's grandparents, parents, and aunts. It includes the grandparent's ex-wives and husbands as well.If you want to know the history of the Hiltons then you should definately by this book. It mentions Paris in the book, but it definately isn't just about her. This is a good book.

You see a lot of biographies where a bright, dedicated and ambitious businessman starts with almost nothing and uses it to build a great fortune. Conrad Hilton was one of these. He started in a small Texas town with a small hotel that he subsequently built into one of the world's largest chains.

Later leadership of the hotel chain passed to one of his sons, Barron hilton. But now as the years have gone by, the corporation, still huge, dynamic and effective doesn't show any person with the last name of Hilton in the management team.

Instead the remains of the wealth that was generated support the lifestyle of great grandchildren. At least one of whom, Paris has certainly generated a great deal of fame. I suspect though, that this is not exactly the fame that Conrad Hilton had in mind when he was struggling with teh fleabag hotel in Cisco, Texas.

The house of hilton does give justice on depicting the characters of Paris' Grandmother and great uncle (Nick Hilton - the one that married Liz Taylor) however it does not shed a lot of light on Paris Hilton and her Parents' life. We see that she gets her "I need to be the center of attention and in the spotlight at all times" demeanor from maternal grandma Big Kathy. All in all, I thought the book was a really easy read. I'm just curious as to how Paris would fill in her occupation on her tax forms. Is there an option for 24/7/365 days party animal socialite. I am fascinated by how she made a marketing brand for herself. The going rates to have Paris make an appearance at your party approx $200K..As to how she got to be so marketable? -- being a victim of a popular sex video that was fuzzy and was a popular download? I'm not sure I'd be proud of that.