The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

William A. Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997

The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book is the first and only book to reveal where today's Hollywood lives, works, and plays. Arranged geographically, the book covers not only Hollywood, the community, but more than 30 separate areas of greater Los Angeles where entertainment history was made (see contents).

To make sightseeing as easy as possible, the book features 33 easy-to-follow maps.

To ensure accuracy, The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book is updated once a year. The publisher is now offering to provide readers with e-mail updates if any new attractions open (or are discovered).

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book is the joyously affirmative answer to the question "Is there an alternative to the prepackaged bus tour of Tinseltown?" William Gordon's guide delivers all the juicy scandal you've come for, but at your pace, at your discretion, and without crackly speakers blasting in your ear. You want to see former homes of Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, or Elvis Presley, current homes of Elizabeth Taylor, Ronald Reagan, or Hugh Hefner, and the site of the Charles Manson cult murders? Gordon helps you conduct your own exploration, and supplies invaluable tidbits of information, such as how Jayne Mansfield came to receive $50,000 worth of free merchandise to decorate her Pink Palace. Gordon covers 32 neighborhoods, providing a practical tour guide as well as a fun gift for the star-struck and Hollywood-bound.

Review

It's a terrific book, with maps and information that you really would find nowhere else. -- Paul Wallach, KIEV-AM

The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book is an incomparable guide to the homes of movie stars, movie and television locations, scandals, murders, suicides, and all the other famous Hollywood tourist sites. Now in an expanded second edition, The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book features 88 pages of updated listings including (for the first time) the locations of the "Melrose Place" and "Seinfeld" apartments; sites from recently released feature films (Volcano, The Lost World, The Nutty Professor); new Hollywood hot spots; and the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. This new edition also includes updates on the O. J. Simpson case; explores the death of controversial producer Don Simpson; and includes many new anecdotes such as Hugh Hefner's purchase of a crypt next to Marilyn Monroe; Lana Turner's hard-to-believe "confession" in the Johnny Stompanato murder case; and the sale of Madonna's five million dollar Hollywood Hills castle (the same castle used by gangster "Bugsy" Siegel as a gambling den. The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book is enhanced with 33 maps and 49 photographs (including rare aerials of celebrities' homes) helping the tourist discover historic celebrity homes; sites where dozens of classic and popular motion pictures and television shows were filmed; studio and network tours; sites associated with Ronald Regan and Richard Nixon; the "Flying Saucer" house, and much more! -- Midwest Book Review

This guide spotlights the hidden dirt that standard star tours never uncover. -- New York Daily News

We rate this Hollywood Tour Book as Number 1+ of all the tourist guides that have been published on Hollywood. -- John Austin, syndicated columnist and author

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: North Ridge Books (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937813060
• ISBN-13: 978-0937813065
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,543,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Buy before you go to LA!, August 2, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I read the book AFTER returning from LA--put me through the best and worst of 2 worlds. One of estasy (I remember that place, it was cool) to one of envy (I wish I had seen that). Please pick this book up before you leave, and plan your trip according to the sites listed. After taking one of the traditional tour vans around the city, it seems the driver must have used this book as a guide as I remember some of the houses matching up with what the author talked about. On the flip side, I would have preferred more pictures and more detailed information on hollywood grave sites, but maybe that's fodder for its own book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tinseltown Mania, April 11, 2003

By 

Brad Baker (Atherton, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book (3rd edition) (Paperback)

There must be 50 Hollywood homes books on the market. If you visit Beverly Hills, a tour-bus or map salesman will gladly take your money. But W. Gordon's remarkably accurate and truthful guide will spell out where the buses point out homes where movie stars never lived. Gordon provides detailed directions and maps to the sites you want to see. And loads of "goodies" and information. He shows you how to get to Arnold's palatial block of homes in Brentwood, and warns that driving there is a $ 500 fine and possible jail time! Wow! He also gives directions to Rudolph Valentino's original 1920's mansion(and much, much more). Forget the B.S. Here it is. When I e-mailed him for an up-date, he gladly provided it for free(see the book). Why waste time driving around freeways?

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A plethora of information about my neighbors in Los Angeles., February 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

William Gordon certainly has done his homework. Whats great about his book, is that it gives the average person access to these hot spots in Los Angeles, by giving directions to the Aaron Spelling house and David Geffen's house. For those coming to Los Angeles, I would recommend buying this book, rather than buying one of those "Maps to the Stars Homes". Those have not been updated in years, Gordon Updates his book twice a year. I have met William Gordon and had lunch with him, what a great guy. He is even open to suggestion, if you know of something he has left out of the book, drop him a line. You could tour everything in that book in a day!