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THE HIT CHARADE

Name: THE HIT CHARADE
Author: Tyler Gray
ISBN: 978-0-06-157966-0

LOU PEARLMAN, BOY BANDS, AND THE BIGGEST PONZI SCHEME IN U.S. HISTORY

by Tyler Gray ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2008

A uniquely American story of ambition, kitsch and monstrous appetites.

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The horrible crimes of the man behind the boy-band craze. As if Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC weren’t bad enough, he also stole half a billion dollars.

In his first book, Blender senior editor Gray untangles the twisted web of financial scams and con games spun by pop impresario and would-be aviation titan Lou Pearlman, “Big Poppa” to his friends. An obese, balding, ungainly man repeatedly described as “creepy” by his associates, Pearlman seems an unlikely arbiter of teeny-bopper taste, but he twice captured lightning in a bottle with Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. With these ’90s-defining boy bands, he racked up millions in album sales and relocated the pop scene from its gloomy grunge headquarters in the Pacific Northwest to sunny Orlando, Fla. Pearlman became famous in the process, appearing in the early MTV reality show Making the Band as a sort of hit-making Svengali. What viewers didn’t know was that he was dogged by rumors of “inappropriate” behavior toward his young charges and that he bankrolled his acts with the spoils of long-running scams involving phony airline companies and retirement-investment schemes that would ultimately defraud investors—including many close friends and family members—out of some $500 million. Gray meticulously charts the complicated layers of pyramid- and Ponzi-type cons that worked for decades by virtue of Pearlman’s unbelievable audacity (he invented accounting firms out of whole cloth and forged corporate documents willy-nilly), his peculiar brand of charm and a state of self-delusion so profound that it drew people into his orbit with a kind of infernal gravitational pull. Despite Pearlman’s crimes, he comes off as a surprisingly sympathetic figure: not malicious or even greedy in the usual sense, just an unattractive momma’s boy blessed with remarkable energy and optimism who as a child daydreamed about blimps and wanted to be somebody important. The moral? Be careful what you wish for.

A uniquely American story of ambition, kitsch and monstrous appetites.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-06-157966-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Collins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2008

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GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SONIC BOOM
by Joel Beckerman with Tyler Gray

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.