In Review

09 January 2009 11:51 BST

The Celeb Diaries by Mark Frith

Published by Ebury, out now, hardback, 340pp, £14.99.

In a nutshell...

Revealing, glossy, bitchy, unrepentant.

What's it all about?

Through the rise of Big Brother, Pop Idol et al, breakdowns from Britney and Amy Winehouse, Posh and Becks' marriage reaching breaking point and the size zero debate reaching the hallowed eves of parliament, Heat magazine was on hand to chronicle the entirety of a world increasingly preoccupied with celebrity.

After resigning from the magazine in February 2008, Mark Frith takes you through the magazine's highs and lows and his decision to step away from the world of celebrity journalism.

Who's it by?

Sheffield lad Mark Frith began his journalistic career penning a pop music column for the University of East London's student magazine before eventually editing Smash Hits. He took the helm at Emap's struggling Heat in early 2000 and went on to boost its sales from a meagre 65,000 to a staggering 500,000, thanks to the rise of reality TV, public obsession with celebrity diets and the continued exploits of Posh, Becks, Jade and others through the celebrity decade.

As an example...

"'So you're the man from Heat,' she says. 'Well, I need to eat before the interview. If I don't eat now, I'll have to eat you.'

"She carries on like this throughout the entire interview; chastising me, touching my knee. I'm sure I'm being seduced into giving her a good write-up but she's good at it. And she's not finished yet…

"'You're really tall.'
'Er, yep.'
'How tall are you?' she whispers.
'Um, six foot five.'
'You'd be really good father material.'

I gulp."

- Geri Halliwell works her magic on a bemused Frith.

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

Once Big Brother reaches it conclusion - please, God, let it be next year! - then a retrospective will be in order and Frith's story has an integral role to play, but it's more set for a documentary than the big screen.

What the others say

"While Frith doesn't quite have [Piers] Morgan's bite, he does have a big cast of entertaining characters and enough cheek to make The Celeb Diaries merit a little more reading time than a copy of Heat." - Joy Lo Dico, Independent

"His journey through celebrity has been an incredible ride and the book reveals all on what it's like to work in a fast-paced office, and run a magazine hailed by many as the 'celebrity bible'; the characters who work there, the people who pass through Heat Towers, the arguments, the great times and the moments when everything stops as some disgruntled famous person calls in to complain. The Celeb Diaries is set to be the inside story of the celebrity decade." - Female First

So is it any good?

Well, that all really depends on how you feel about celebrity culture. If you're genuinely fascinated in Chris and Gwyneth's home life, Madonna's dietary oddities and the behind-the-scenes intrigue from the latest series of X Factor, then this book will be manna from heaven for you. If, on the other hand, you subscribe to the view espoused by Frith's bete noire Ewan McGregor and believe that celebrity magazines and the people behind them are 'pieces of s**t', then you'll be shaking your head in admonishment throughout.

Frith has a sincere interest in the celebrity world, their idiosyncrasies and insanity, and so when he attempts to explain breaching big name weddings, passing off press releases as exclusive interviews or revealing the most intimate details of the denizens of the red carpet, he gets away with it because there's not a hint of maliciousness about it. He's an unsurprisingly accomplished writer, with a great conversational tone and you'll zip through the book as quickly as you could a pile of copies of Heat.

The revelation count isn't as high as you would like - other than Jordan likes publicity, Posh is funny, Simon Cowell smokes Kool cigarettes - and the targets of Frith's ire - Jude Law, Will Young, to name but two - seem to be disliked for simply valuing their own privacy and thinking that the world of celebrity magazines is all superficial nonsense.

Which, to be honest, it is. But, like watching the Hollyoaks omnibus on a lazy Sunday, it's a comforting, guilty pleasure all the same.

7/10

Lewis Bazley