The National Enquirer: Thirty Years of Unforgettable Images

by Charles Melcher and Valerie Virga

Book Overview

A magnificent record of three decades of riveting scandal and celebrity news, this illustrated showcase celebrates the photographic scoops and provocative journalism that have made "The National... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786888059
• ISBN13: 9780786888054
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Miramax Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 3.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.3" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

Transcends into the realm of art. Seriously!

The Enquirer is infamous for its shameless portrayals of American celebrities (and the odd royalty living elsewhere). This amazing collection of photography though is something even more rewarding than the weekly grind-out of the delightful tabloid. The images are juxtaposed SO skillfully, and with great humor. A dumpy, potato-like Xaviera Hollander and beau just across the page from slender and youthful Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear - a horrible, prophetic Dorian Gray vision of the future! Plenty of foreshadowing photos of relationships doomed to failure, a gallery of mugshots and coffin shots. The famous Elvis casket photo is easily eclipsed by the very gruesome River Phoenix shot. If I had to pick one shot as a favorite, it would be the Christmas cheer of Anna Nicole Smith and her 90-year old sugar daddy, the expression on her face instantly confirming the nation's worst speculations of that relationship. The best cross-page pairing is aging-but-sexy Joan Collins in her bikini across from a braid-wearing Sean Connery in HIS futuriffic bikini from a 70s Sci-fi movie. Can anyone possibly think he's the sexiest man alive after seeing THAT??? The book also maintains that peculiar and annoying quality of the Enquirer that some soccer-mom favorite celebrities are somehow "untouchable" - Oprah and Rosie O'Donnell are visions of personal triumph and noblesse, never to be shown in an unflattering manner. Despite that minor gripe, you can't afford to miss this photo treasury of everything beautiful about the supermarket years of the Enquirer. I'm hoping they do a companion volume of the best of the Enquirer's "shock value" black & white early years.

A REAL PAGE-TURNER WITH A FEW UNPLEASANT SURPRISES!!!

Once you open up this book, you might as well forget trying to accomplish anything else for the next 90 minutes or so. I know it will probably sell a lot of copies for the holidays and rightfully so. We all hate to admit that we glance at the National Enquirer everytime we go to the supermarket or beauty salon, right? But here in one place are some of the most shocking and memorable photos of our lives.Unlike 30 years of People Magazine or Time Magazine, this volume has some of the bad taste that we come to expect out of the National Enquirer. I would have bought this for my Mom except for the horrific coffin photos. So this book may not be ideal for everyone. On the other hand, I especially liked the pictures of celebrities before they were famous or when they were so young (and so were we!). It goes to show how innocent all of us were not too long ago.As far as coffee table books go, this one is a good and memorable one. The beauty salons around the country should all get one! It is, after all, a real page-turner and not many books can claim that.

All your favorite celebrities--at their self-indulgent worst

A delightful collection of the "beautiful people" caught on film in some of their most embarrassing moments. You'll laugh out loud at the turn of each page. The excess, the arrogance, the shame of it all-as J.R. Ewing said-- "High quality dirt!"What's your pleasure? Cleavage? Plenty to choose from. Weddings that went kaput? No problem. Mug shots? They're all here in living color.In addition to these embarrassing moments, the hard cover book is punctuated with the occasional image of class, such as Audrey Hepburn in refugee camp in Somalia. It's the perfect coffee table book for yourself or the "must have" item on everyone's Christmas list.My favorite? Tough choice, but I'll go with the shot of a very pre-occupied Martina Navratilova.Worth every penny!

An absolutely gorgeous volume of bad taste

This could easily be rated only two stars if you don't have the right frame of mind. However, the Enquirer specializes in poor taste so if you are inclined to consider buying this book, presumably you have a morbid curiosity about its contents. Therefore, let's not be hypocritical and cast harsh judgments as to the subject matter of the volume. In presenting poor taste in a big, glossy coffee table volume, this is a great five star effort.Superficially, this volume is beautiful; it truly rivals the Time Magazine coffee table books in layout and colorful photos. However, as is the case with the weekly Enquirer, this book picks up where People magazine leaves off. How tasteless is a full topless photo of Nicole Simpson? How about open casket photos of dead celebrities such as Bing Crosby and River Phoenix (and no, River did not look like he was just sleeping)? Years ago I kind of thought Xaviera Hollander (the Happy Hooker) was a babe. Well, there is a photo of her at well over 200 pounds in a skimpy bikini. Guess what? According to the photo's caption, Hollander says a lot of men like her that way.Want to see a photo of Richard Gere skinny dipping? I didn't but I'm sure many of you do. Well, it's there in this volume. Do you want to see Michael Jackson's disintegrating nose in bandages? Just open this volume and you'll find it. In short, this book is great for those of us too full of ourselves to buy the Enquirer at the supermarket. However, a beautiful volume from top name booksellers; ah, now that's respectable.