“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
I don’t really want to discuss people as much as I want to know about them! A former producer on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is out with a tell-all book about the famous guests, the late-night wars and all of the other fun and games that went on behind the scenes for 22 years. The tales printed as a preview in The New York Post are absolutely fascinating. The real person behind the public persona is what I’m after. And this book includes a slew of anecdotes featuring such revelations.
Dave Berg’s book, Behind the Curtain: An Insider’s View of Jay Leno’s Tonight Show, mostly names names but keeps some of them off the record. Benjamin Bratt refused to follow an animal handler and came back the next night to appear first, and then never again. Christian Bale found questions about where he grew up and how many siblings he had too personal, and bailed on his appearance. When Teri Hatcher was bumped her agent called and suggested a Louis Vuitton handbag might ease the sting. She got a bouquet of flowers instead. Eddie Murphy’s appearance came with a backstage rider that demanded a long list of items including Juicy Fruit gum and a personal set of towels and washcloths. Jessica Simpson wanted the show to pay for her own hair and makeup people before her appearance, estimated at $18,000. They refused.
I love it. This kind of behavior shows who is all full of themselves as opposed to who is just a regular person who happens to be famous. Some celebrities demand insanely special treatment and I want to know who they are!
The book isn’t available on Kobo. I had already ordered an iPad mini and the minute it arrives, I’m downloading the book on Kindle and getting my gossip on. I’m not sure how many pages there are, but the details are certain to fill up this small mind of mine.
Please promise to let us know if the best stuff was in the previews. I’m not about gossip and am interested more in facts and insight here (not “someone who knows someone thinks they saw someone”) so thanks for sharing what may be a fun summer read.