BOOK REVIEW: CELEBRITY CRIMES, BY XAVIER WATERKEYN

The full title is "Celebrity Crimes - The Dark Side of The Limelight".

I have just finished reading this book and found it very interesting. As you can tell by this site, I am interested in anything vintage. How people acted, how they reacted, how they lived their lives, what shaped them. This book fell right into all of that.

The book is broken down into these categories:

• Victims
  This covers victims of crime, such as murder, kidnapping, or other. The Lindbergh baby, the Manson killings, the Munich Olympic massacre, John Lennon, and more.
   
• Survivors
  These celebrities were attacked but, thankfully, survived. Andy Warhol, Monica Seles, George Harrison, and more.
   
• Killers
  Read more about Lana Turners daughter, Marlon Brando's boy Christian, and the OJ Simpson trial, and more.
   
• Misadventures
  This covers a number of topics including accidental suicides, and troubled former child stars. Betty Ford, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Belushi, Drew Barrymore, River Phoenix, and more.

FROM THE BACK COVER
Celebrities have always had to make deals with devil - fame, fortune and extraordinary experiences in exchange for the limelight. All the people in this book are celebrities whose lives have somehow gone wrong. And as they traded their private lives for success, we watched them go down and, sometimes, resurface. From Wild Bill Hickock and Jesse James, and the drugs and deaths in the 1920s to the mystery murders of Joy and George 'Born Free' Adamson and the tragedies of celebrities like Versace, "Celebrity Crimes" has all the killings, suicides, victims of crime and drug crimes that shocked the world. The tragic deaths of Beatles stars John Lennon and George Harrison are included, as are the 'trials of the centuries' of OJ Simpson and Lana Turner and her daughter. Then there are the misadventures - Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the tragic lives of the former child stars - River Phoenix and Dana Plato.

This book is easy to read and well written. I noticed a couple of typos, but they do not detract from the reading pleasure. I found it a very interesting read and do not hesitate to recommend it to anyone with similar interests.

Celebrity Crimes is available from Amazon Books.

Have you read something similar lately? And want to share it with others? Leave a comment to this post.

See also : Vintage Cove Website | Vintage Cove on Facebook