Books about Variety from Amazon.com

This titillating exposé chronicles the personal and professional adventures of this tabloid-laden socialite, dispelling some rumors, while confirming others. Diaries unveils the heavily shrouded Hollywood backrooms and its coveted secrets. Offering her ardent fans answers to burning questions and presenting lessons learned, this book will surely not disappoint.


Karrine Steffans continues to dish out juicy gossip and the much sought after details of her star studded lifestyle and the celebrity men that helped her get where she needed to be.


Karrine draws you in to get an up-close and personal look at the Hollywood life of fast money and sex; all the things that make for a great movie. She discusses her interactions with people after the release of Confessions of a Video Vixen and how she copes with it all..
Price: $12.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Based out of Bladensburg, Maryland, 31-year-old Janet Stayley spent her life looking for a hustler She never knew she would find one in her 15-year-old son, Kelsi. Surrounded by violence, drugs and lies, Kelsi murders in self-defense Suddenly Kelsi becomes charged with the new-found feeling he associates with becoming a man, and feels he can take on anything, including his mother’s cheating lover. The heat of murder ensues and Janet feels it’s time to make a permanent move out of Maryland. Before doing so, she plans one last murder which, if goes as planned, could ultimately be worth millions. To top it all off, Janet has not revealed to her son the biggest secret yet..
Price: $8.87 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Carl Sagan’s prophetic vision of the tragic resurgence of fundamentalism and the hope-filled potential of the next great development in human spirituality

The late great astronomer and astrophysicist describes his personal search to understand the nature of the sacred in the vastness of the cosmos. Exhibiting a breadth of intellect nothing short of astounding, Sagan presents his views on a wide range of topics, including the likelihood of intelligent life on other planets, creationism and so-called intelligent design, and a new concept of science as “informed worship.” Originally presented at the centennial celebration of the famous Gifford Lectures in Scotland in 1985 but never published, this book offers a unique encounter with one of the most remarkable minds of the twentieth century..
Price: $1.62 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Murder Was Never So Much Fun!

When Disco Bloodbath was first published, it created a storm of controversy for its startlingly vivid, strikingly fresh, and outrageously funny depiction of the hedonistic world of the New York City club kids, for whom nothing was too outré -- including murder. Nominated for the Edgar Award for best true-crime book of the year, it also marked the debut of an audaciously talented writer, James St. James, who himself had been a club kid and close friend and confidant of Michael Alig, the young man convicted of killing the drug dealer known as Angel.

Now the book has been brought to the screen as Party Monster, with Macaulay Culkin playing killer Michael Alig and Seth Green as author/celebutante James St. James.

.
Price: $3.84 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This is a book for the true tomato snob who is not content with the ordinary red beefsteak weighing heavily on the vine at the end of summer. Yellow, pink, green, and orange tomatoes are all part of this guide to heirloom varieties, many of which are only available through catalogs or through an organization called the Seed Savers Exchange.

Author Carolyn Male favors heirlooms that have been passed down through families, not commercially created hybrids. She does not hesitate to be critical, calling some varieties mealy or bland, while others send her into epiphanies. Although she makes gestures toward guiding the novice, this is a book for either food fanatics or experts who move in the subculture of truly obsessed gardeners catering to gourmet cooks and specialty markets. Throughout the book, enticing photographs of freshly picked heirlooms remind the reader that grocery store tomatoes aren't really tomatoes at all, sitting sadly under fluorescent lights, losing their flavor and color. If only they had been born in a tomato snob's garden; then they would have been treated like royalty. --Emily White.
Price: $11.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

Shaped like a miter’s cap or delicately hued like the pearl-colored petticoats of a duchess, scented like honeyed almonds or nodding heavily in the wind, every old-fashioned rose possesses a unique character. And their names–often drawn from history and mythology–have stories as enchanting and evocative as the flowers themselves.

This gorgeously photographed collection of fifty exquisite roses reveals how some of the world’s most storied, beloved plants received their names, and how the names go hand in hand with the flowers’ appearance and fragrance. It’s a voyage of discovery for rose connoisseurs, garden enthusiasts, and anyone else who appreciates delicate blooming beauty.

Joining the rose parade are:

storied characters such as Greenmantle, the heroine of Sir Walter Scott’s novel Redgauntlet. As attention-getting as the character’s exquisite green silk cape, the rose’s leaves, rather than its blossoms, are the source of its heady fragrance.

Artful personalities such as Peter Paul Rubens, the Flemish master whose paintings often featured the luminous skin of voluptuous goddesses. Fittingly, his namesake rose is a heavenly flesh color, tinged with pink.

Heroes, heroines, and rascals such as Napoléon. The petals of his eponymous rose become darker and more disheveled as they age, much like the emperor who fell deep into madness after building an empire.

Nobles and notables such as King Louis-Philippe. Some liken the rich fragrance of this rose to cherries, although the shape of its buds may be more true to its namesake’s character: The king was often portrayed in caricatures as a pear.

Well-bred ladies and gents such as the intrepid British tea thief Robert Fortune. On a secret mission in China, he clipped the rose that became known as ‘Fortune’s Double Yellow’.

With vivid accounts of the colorful figures who inspired the names of the roses and with lyrical descriptions of the flowers themselves, Pink Ladies & Crimson Gents is a valentine to the rose, a feast for the eyes, and a delightful gift for any romantic soul..
Price: $12.69 [Notify me when price goes down.]