Customer Reviews

Tabloid Baby

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I'm one of the many media-types who have been waiting for this book for months. It was worth the wait. I started reading and couldn't put the thing down. This book tells an inside story of the television business in a way I've never seen before. It's a history book that reads like a novel. It's hilarious, it's sad, it's shocking, and it moves. I never thought I'd feel sympathy for the guys who ran that sleazy tabloid TV business, but the characters are rich, multi-sided and likeable--even the ones you have to despise-- and you really root for the main character to get out of the business while he's still alive! This book names names and it reveals secrets, but at the same time explains what tabloid television might have been-- and what today's TV business could have been like--if the good guys won. I know some of the people mentioned in this book. They're not going to be happy. But they can't deny how accurate Kearns is. He's a pretty brave (crazy?) guy to lay it all on the line like this. This book is going to rock a lot of worlds in the TV news business. I predict it's going to be huge.

Let me begin by saying that I work in the "business" that Tabloid Baby deals with.

And let me also be up front about how I first encountered this book...because I'm sure that many of the people writing reviews on this site read it the same way.

In all my years of doing television for a living, I don't think I've ever seen a more photocopied, illegally reproduced 500 plus pages than I did with Tabloid Baby - and I am talking about people literally comandeering photo copy machines for an hour to get this thing out to their friends in L.A. and New York and everywhere in between.

I have never seen more executives and management types running into offices, slamming doors and soaking themselves in a BOOK of all things!

I'm talking about people who haven't read anything deeper than the front page of the LA Times Entertainment section since freshman Lit. 101.

It was for that reason that I avoided Tabloid Baby for as long as I could. Afterall, I am a person who actually goes out of my way to read books that may not include my name in them.

It just so happened that I picked up one of the photocopied volumes while eating lunch at an other wise empty conference room table.

It was the longest...and I have to admit...the most enjoyable lunch I've ever eaten alone. I went in preparing to eat Mr. Kearns for lunch. I came out with a solid, grudging respect for this book. I will pay it the highest compliment I can for any book coming out of this self deluded town. It is real. That's it. You want to meet a real person? You want to have Hollywood reality rubbed in your face? You can't do better.

Is he lying? I wouldn't know. If you're going to tell me he's lying...reprint the lie so we can all see it. Otherwise, you're just another hack with an axe to grind, as far as I'm concerned.

Otherwise, buy this book. And - unlike the rest of us Hollywood hypocrites - buy it from Amazon. That's the only regret I have about the whole adventure. If I ever meet Burt Kearns on a street corner, I'm going to pay him my thirty bucks on the spot. And I'll shake his hand too.

Thanks for the space.

At least on this webpage, there have been many superlatives about tabloid baby. Having finished reading the book, I can attest to its engaging prose and very funny stories. However, I do not place it in the top ranks of the literary canon as do so many other fans (friends?) of the author. kearns has done a credible reporting and research job and is perhaps too honest in his confessions and opinions, which are often from-the-hip and scattershot. Tabloid baby is clearly a work of passion and authority, though flawed as any work of this type might be. Kearns should be commended, but not canonized. His debut is a very solid example of new journalism, informative, compelling and inviting. I draw the line at comparisons to Hunter Thompson, and draw the line at four stars if only to counter the "hype."

I hate tabloid TV. I truly believe it is a contributing factor to the decline of American society as we know it. When my daughter recently purchsed a copy of "Tabloid Baby",like the proverbial slowing down to look at a car wreck, I found I couldn't resist picking it up. Much to my surprise (and disgust), I LOVED IT - I LAUGHED MY A.. OFF. The author successfully shows just how many similiarities tabloid news has with "serious" news. I found it hilarious that, in most cases, the people reporting the news were crazier & more dysfunctional than their topics. I still hate tabloid TV, but I really love "Tabloid Baby".

As a co-worker of Burt's back in the "Prologue" days, I was delighted to discover this book and was thoroughly entertained throughout. Certainly his time at NBC was nothing in comparison to the roller coaster ride he details throughout the book. Not only is the recreation of the birth and decline of tabloid television told in entertaining and sometimes amazing detail, the author's use of the English language is as powerful as ever. Each adventure is told in a unique and entertaining manner. At times my maternal instinct wanted to reach into the story and yell at Burt to slow down and take a look at where his life was headed - too much risk, too much drinking, too much everything - it's almost with relief that the reader witnesses him "settling down". However, I don't think his nose for a story ever will....and that's a good thing.

Perhaps the most unusually honest- and paralyzingly funny - book about American news media to come down the pike since the glory days of Norman Mailer, Hunter Thompson and Tom Wolfe.

If you've been looking for a name to add to that triumverate..look no further. May I introduce Mr.Burt Kearns. And - while we're at it - lets throw in Rabelaeis (sp) Cervantes and Swift for good company.

It's been a long, long time since someone had the cojones to open up a can of one hundred proof whup ass on our Nurse Ratchit run TV news media. Dan, Tom, Peter....stick your face in this book and grow a sense of humor.

Thank God there's someone out there who sees it for what it is! (And knows how to write to boot!) Kearns for president!

"Tabloid Baby" - by Burt Kearns

Having worked in the television industry for some twenty years (has it really been that long?) I relived much of my misspent youth devouring the pages of "Tabloid Baby" by Burt Kearns.

I grew up in Sydney, Australia reading countless articles and watching many, many shows created by the main characters in the book. Reliving those years - and experiencing the years that followed their departure to the US - only heightened my admiration of not only their journalistic ability - but their sheer staying power and determination in the pursuit of a story!

Okay, a lot of that staying power could also be attributed to their drinking skills - but doesn't that really go hand in hand?

A rip-snorting, page-turning, knee-slapping trip down television's memory lane -- the good and the bad -- written by a talented wordsmith who lived through the era -- helped shape it - and came out the other end - alive!

If you've ever wondered how television is made - look no further for a reference book!

Linn Taylor, Production Manager, Sydney, Australia.

Aside from Burt's inability to give his competitors any credit. I found this book to be as honest and emotionally driven as any I have read this year. I couldn't put it down.

Funny, sad, instructive, shocking, informative, dramatic, romantic, emotional, sympathetic, sentimental, suspenseful and heartbreaking. One of the quickest reads this year. I was carried away by Burt Kearns's words and got to know the rowdies who really had good intentions but were pushed out. Keep the Kleenex handy for the last few chapters.

A ripping good yarn. The author knows how to bring scenes to life, make sharp points with a few choice words and put the TV business into perspective. I was sorry when it ended, and would buy a sequel.