Sleaze

David Bowie, Rochester, New York, 1976 Image © Rochester Police Department

Mug Shots: Celebrities Under Arrest

George Seminara

“The crime, the arrest, the taking down of names and numbers, the emptying of pockets, the one allotted phone call, the fingertips smeared in ink, and finally, the booking photo: the mug shot. Culled from and ferreted out of police departments from all over the country, here are the mug shots of dozens of America’s celebrities who have been arrested. Suzanne Somers, Tim Allen, Larry King, Jane Fonda, Christian Slater—all have blinked in the flash of the police photographer’s camera. With great difficulty, George Seminara has compiled a startling rogues’ gallery of dozens of well-known public figures.”

Publisher: St. Martin's
Paperback: 100 pages
Illustrated

Reviews

Himpressions: The Blackwoman’s Guide to Pampering the Blackman

Valerie B. Shaw

Girlfriend, if you want to stop waiting to exhale and B-R-E-A-T-H-E already, this book is for you! Advice on handling insecurity, flirting successfully and vanquishing the dreaded FAAWABA (Ferocious African-American Woman With a Bad Attitude). Feminists, beware. MG

Publisher: HarperCollins
Paperback: 144 pages

Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business

Fredric Dannen

“Hit Men is the highly controversial portrait of the pop music industry in all its wild, ruthless glory: the insatiable greed and ambition; the enormous egos; the fierce struggles for profits and power; the vendettas, rivalries, shakedowns and payoffs. Chronicling the evolution of America’s largest music labels from the Tin Pan Alley days to the present day, Dannen examines in depth the often venal, sometimes illegal dealings among the assorted hustlers and kingpins who rule over this multibillion-dollar business.”

Publisher: Vintage
Paperback: 407 pages
Illustrated

Hollywood Lesbians

Boze Hadleigh

“I’m a dyke. So what? Big deal!” So decrees gin-riddled, moon-faced octogenarian actress Patsy Kelly, star of Rosemary’s Baby and The North Avenue Irregulars. The Big Deal is that the now-deceased Kelly had firsthand knowledge of what Tallulah Bankheaad liked to do with her pussy (she preferred frequent “pubic massage”), and anyone with that sort of information deserves at least the 20-page interview printed here, famous or not. The other subjects are Marjorie Main, Nancy Kulp, Barbara Stanwyck, Capucine, Dorothy Arzner, Edith Head, Sandy Dennis and Dame Judith Anderson. Actually, said lesbians don’t contribute as much firsthand gossip as one would like, but this is more than compensated for by the inclusion of bitchy testimony from first-class fishwives like Elsa Lanchester (apparently not a lesbian), and Paul Lynde (Lynde: “Agnes Moorehead? One of the all-time Hollywood dykes!”). And with the exception of frosty Miss Barbara Stanwyck, they all seem to have something interesting to say. Aside from Patsy Kelly, the best interviews here are with Marjorie Main (famous for her Ma Kettle character, a sort of butch Mother Hubbard) and the fabulously evil Dame Judith. Worth owning for the title alone. MG

Publisher: Barricade
Hardback: 320 pages
Illustrated

Hollywood Lolita: The Nymphette Syndrome in the Movies

Marianne Sinclair

“Exposes the truth behind the coy smiles, curls and bows—a heritage of wide-eyed innocence which left a trail of broken hearts, ruined careers and forgotten glory. The private lives and careers of more than 40 Hollywood Lolitas are explored, revealing how the changing tastes of nymphet-hungry audiences dictated a nymphet’s appeal—or downfall.” The message here is that pedophilia is the cornerstone of the movie business. Read up on how stars as diverse as Deanna Durbin, Jodie Foster and the Gish sisters built major careers by exploiting the movie audience’s hunger for pre-adolescent female coochie, usually with an encouraging stage mother/pimp lurking on the sidelines. MG

Publisher: Plexus
Paperback: 192 pages
Illustrated

Hollywood Madam

Lee Francis

Lee Francis paid the politicians and quietly ran a set of upscale whorehouses in the Golden Age of Hollywood, designed as sex spas for the stars. John Garfield hung out, Errol Flynn worked out and John Barrymore passed out. Clark Gable was a good friend (“but he never set foot in my place”). Aimee Semple McPherson’s secretary became one of her hookers. “It’s all here, the sexcapades of actors, actresses, writers, directors and politicians, the people who made Hollywood move.” GR

Publisher: Holloway House
Paperback: 224 pages

I’m With the Band

Pamela des Barres

Starfucker! Starfucker! Funny, sexy, desperate Cinderella story, as told by the woman who fucked her way to the top and stayed there, bedding the likes of Mick Jagger one night and Jimmy Page the next and the next and the next. No fats, femmes or roadies for this hanger-on. She fucked only the best, earning her the dubious title “Queen of the Groupies.” It doesn’t get any raunchier than this, except on those nights when you’re plaster-casting a guitar god’s tumescent cock. Rock on! GR

Publisher: Berkley
Paperback: 279 pages
Illustrated

If I’m So Famous, How Come Nobody’s Ever Heard of Me?

Jewel Shepard

“Jewel Shepard is the star of such cinema classics as The Return of the Living Dead, Caged Heat 2, and Hollywood Hot Tubs (Parts 1 and 2). If I’m so Famous, How Come Nobody’s Ever Heard of Me? is the fascinating, gutsy and bittersweet tale of how she made her way from the runways of seedy strip joints to the cult-classics section of your local video store.”

Publisher: Kitchen Sink
Paperback: 223 pages
Illustrated

The Inner World of Jimi Hendrix

Monika Dannemann

“Written by Hendrix’s fiancée, this personal and intimate portrait of the legendary rock guitarist features compelling, untold facts about his last 24 hours, as witnessed by the author. With almost religious devotion, Dannemann articulates Jimi’s philosophies and inner feelings. Includes 45 full-color paintings and 20 color photos, many never before published.”

Publisher: St. Martin's
Paperback: 192 pages
Illustrated

Jackie Gleason: An Intimate Portrait

W.J. Weatherby

The Brooklyn Hamlet. Big, loud, brash, boozy, sentimental, sensitive and funny. Gleason started out doing nightclubs in 1939, using Milton Berle’s monologue material, which he had stolen line for line. The two kings of early TV eventually became pals. “I always thought Jackie was a load of talent,” says Berle, “As a monologist or stand-up, he wasn’t at his best, but he was terrific in playing characters or doing sketches and skits… He wasn’t a very good comic, but he was a very good comedian. Ed Wynn once said that a comic is a guy that says funny things and a comedian is a guy who says things funny. A comedian isn’t afraid of silence… When Gleason did The Honeymooners, he wasn’t afraid to take his time, he wasn’t afraid of the audience running away, but treated a situation the way it deserved until the laughs came.” GR

Publisher: Berkley
Paperback: 222 pages
Illustrated

Japan’s Sex Trade

Peter Constantine

The author spent years researching the Japanese sex business (in particular those aspects ordinarily closed to foreigners) and finally gathered enough material to write this marvelous guide and fascinating study of the sexual life of the country. You think you have unusual tastes? “NAISHIN-KYO SUPESHARU—Endoscope Special—Customers interested in taking a closer look at their seikan girl’s vagina are handed an authentic gynecologist’s endoscope, with which they can study the organ to their heart’s content.” Soap girls, love motels, vending machines full of schoolgirl’s used panties and the ever-popular ganmen kijo zeme (facial horseback attack). What a country! JW

Publisher: Tuttle
Paperback: 208 pages
Illustrated