Heat - Not So Hot!! (The Celeb Diaries: The Sensational Inside Story of the Celebrity Decade - Mark Frith)

Member Name: cstag

Product:	The Celeb Diaries: The Sensational Inside Story of the Celebrity Decade - Mark Frith
Date:	23/02/09 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Insight in to Magazine Industry

Disadvantages: Not Enough Scandal!

Up until about two years ago, I was an avid reader of Heat Magazine, lapping up the celebrity culture and enjoying the gossip and scandal! However, as the magazine become more and more obsessed with Big Brother and with who was too skinny and who was too fat - I gradually lost interest and stopped buying it.

However, when it was announced that Mark Frith the former editor was launching his diaries of his time working for Heat, curiosity got the better of me again. Mark Frith edited Heat from 1999 until early 2008. He identified early on that the average person did have an interest in celebrity culture and was responsible for turning this former mans magazine into one of the forerunners of celebrity gossip. Relaunched in the late 90's, it dominated the celebrity magazine market and over the years fed our curiosity on the lives of Posh and Becks, Jordan, the Big Brother Housemates and Brittany Spears.

As an insight into the media industry and magazine publications in particular, this does make an interesting read. The transformation of the magazine is explained, as well as the pressures of grabbing a story before the competition and the unconventional methods that are sometimes used to achieve this. Mark Frith also highlights the pressures magazine editors face with their circulation figures targets, demonstrating how an interview or a front cover of a celebrity like Victoria Beckham could boost circulation by hundreds of thousands. He also demonstrates how anyone can become a celebrity if they receive enough exposure. The book also includes some interesting photographs from his period at Heat and examples of previous front covers which Heat fans will probably remember and recognize.

However, I was left feeling slightly disappointed. The back cover of the book claims that, 'it's fantastic stuff and the revelations just keep coming,' yet quite frankly, they don't. I think I was expecting a similar level of exposé and scandal that were revealed in the diaries of former newspaper editor Piers Morgan (The Insider). However, despite its suggestions of the scandal and inside stories - very little was revealed.

An interesting read, but not as exciting or as intriguing as I would have hoped or as it was advertised.

Summary: not as exciting or as intriguing as I would have hoped