Celebrity Feuds!: The Cattiest Rows, Spats, and Tiffs Ever Recorded

Those who've come to appreciate the keen eye for celebrity dirt and tart quips that have animated Hadleigh's previous books, such as Hollywood Gays, Hollywood Lesbians, Sing Out! and Hollywood Babble On will find this sassy compendium of fights, feuds and flying fur the equivalent of a multicourse meal composed entirely of desserts. In bite-size chapters, he presents the venomous thoughts and deeds of some of Hollywood's brightest stars, collected from nearly 100 tell-all memoirs. Some of the stories would have benefited from a broader context, but most of the rivalries recounted here are presented in all their back-stabbing, bitch-slapping glory. Hadleigh tells of familiar battles (Sonny & Cher) and not-so familiar ones (Julia and Eric Roberts); there are simmering sisters (Oscar competitors Joan Fontaine and Olivia DeHavilland, who haven't spoken for over 30 years), kvetching costars (Laverne and Shirley), ratings rivals (Letterman vs. Leno) and the remarkably complex squabbles of the entire Jackson family. The last chapter charts the legendary feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, which began long before and continued long after the two appeared together as Blanche and Baby Jane Hudson in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? After all the hilarious invective of the previous chapters, who'd think you could still be entertained by such venerable screen queens? But cha are, Blanche, ya are! (Oct.)