From Publishers Weekly
Show-biz biographers often feel compelled to deliver dirt on their subjects, but not so Goodman in this exuberant, gossipy examination of TV's "Queen of Nice" (per Newsweek magazine). With O'Donnell, it seems, what you see is what you get. Schoolmates, owners of the comedy clubs where she got her start, co-stars on Broadway (Grease) and in the movies (Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own), reviewers and even the "dream guests" on her hit daytime TV talk show have apparently had nothing negative to say about this girl next door. Goodman, described in the publisher's promo material as a "longtime fan" of her subject, recounts O'Donnell's early life as a "bubbling Broadway fan from Commack, Long Island," whose mother introduced her to the thrill of Broadway and movies before dying of cancer when O'Donnell was 10 years old. The aspiring starlet was so popular in high school that she was elected "senior class president, and homecoming queen, and prom queen." Even early on in her career, according to the author, she used only positive humor to delight and endear herself to friends and fans alike. Her compassion permeates everything she does, notes Goodman, and led her recently to adopt two children and begin working for child advocacy. The adjectives "unpretentious," "genuine," "funny" and "nice" describe this biography as well as, evidently, its subject. B&w photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that The Rosie O'Donnell Show is the biggest thing to hit daytime TV since Barney, and it's not surprising that articles and books about her proliferate. These latest works chronicle the facts of O'Donnell's life and career in very different ways. Rosie is a straight telling of O'Donnell's life. O'Donnell's mother, who instilled in her a passion for theater, died young, leaving behind a devastated family. Faced with an emotionally unavailable father, O'Donnell turned to TV family sitcoms for comfort. Her love of performing led her to stand-up comedy, Starsearch, the TV show Gimme a Break, and a DJ spot on VH-1. Movie roles followed (e.g., A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle). The rest is television history. Everything Rosie also gives the facts of O'Donnell's life but serves more as a compendium. This full-color picture book includes lists of her films, interviews, examples of her stand-up routine, and the lyrics of her parodies. However, a list of all the TV stations that carry her show and of each past show's guests prove a little much. Libraries that already have George Mair and Anna Green's Rosie O'Donnell: Her True Story (Birch Lane Pr., 1997) might not need Rosie; purchase Everything Rosie?for the most ardent fans?where demand requires.?Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Lib. System, CA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
