Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Entertainment & Celebrities

As lead singer and songwriter for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis has lived life on the razor's edge. Much has been written about him, but until now we've only had his songs as clues to his experience from the inside. In Scar Tissue, Kiedis proves himself to be as compelling a memoirist as he is a lyricist, giving us a searingly honest account of the life from which his music has evolved.

The creator and executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond dissects the art of comedy and the making of a sitcom classic. In television, where programs can premiere and disappear in the same week, Everybody Loves Raymond reigned as America's best-loved show for nine years with more than 17 million viewers. As the number-one sitcom, it received more than 70 Emmy nominations, including two wins for best comedy.

Despite all the pain writing causes him, Spalding fans are always grateful for the finished product! In this monologue, Spalding meanders in and out of anecdotes as he recounts how his 1900-page novel came to fruition. Browse other Spalding Gray monologues.

When Dave Barry writes funny, you write back. And when you write funny, Dave Barry talks back! Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist Dave Barry gets more response from readers than any other writer in the United States. And now the absolute best of Dave Barry is available, complete with those items sent in by Dave's legion of Alert Readers all across the country. But Dave Barry doesn't only talk back to readers. He talks back to traffic cops, dentists, doctors, Congress, and his very dumb dogs.

For decades, Joan Rivers was known as America's top female comedian... her brash unsparing style and truly tenacious spirit inspired both her fellow comedians and her millions of fans. In her own voice, she recounts her personal story from the inside out - her anguish, her anger, her insight, her inspiration - from her rags to riches struggle on the hard way to the top, to the breakthrough act which not only changed her world but also changed the world of stand-up comedy.

Conspiracy buff or not, who can resist a book that blows the lid off some of our time's most controversial issues? For example, if astronauts, pilots, and nearly every culture since time immemorial believe UFOs exists, why does the U.S. government deny it? And just how could the President of the United States die of a frontal would inflicted by a sniper shooting from behind?

The first in-depth biography of the world's richest man. Through interviews with those who were closest to Getty, the picture emerges of a truly miserly art collector, the great lover, the bigamist, the puritan, philanthropist, the suspected Nazi spy....

Here is the absolute best of Dave Barry; selections from four of his most popular books, including the hilarious Guide to Guys. Dave Barry is on the loose and no one is safe....

Here is the definitive autobiography of one of the most famous personalities in television history - an intimate, revealing, and riveting memoir that will show a Larry King the world has never known, up close and personal. For a half-century, the world's most influential figures have been telling their story to Larry King. Now the man in suspenders shares his inspiring story, from his humble roots in Depression-era Brooklyn to the heights of celebrity as host of CNN's Larry King Live.

He was one of America's most popular entertainers by the time he was 21 years old. But for Eddie Fisher that was only the beginning of a two-decade affair with fame and fortune that made him more famous than Frank Sinatra, turned out more consecutive hit records than the Beatles, and earned him millions of dollars. He married America's sweetheart, Debbie Reynolds, then left her for the world's most glamorous woman, Elizabeth Taylor.

Henry Miller's gifts of profundity, humor, and spiritual sensitivity as well as his joy of living are well displayed in this collection of his insights into the human character. The pieces range from the delightfully raucous to the metaphysically illuminating, and include portraits of the famous and less-than-famous people in Miller's life. All human beings become real to the listener under Miller's penetrating mind and loving eye.

Ever since Debbie Reynolds won a Miss Burbank beauty contest and a Warner Brothers screen test, her fans have identified with her and called her "the kid"—the kid sister, the kid with personality, the kid with guts. Throughout her career she has embodied fresh-faced American grace and gumption in such classic films as Singing' in the Rain, How the West Was Won, Tammy and the Bachelor, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Dublin-born actor Gabriel Byrne shares his life in this frank and absorbing collection of memories and episodes. He leads you from his youth through his career on stage and screen and his current work as a producer and actor. His unique narrative style, a blend of colloquial dialogue with evocative descriptions, provides an intimate account of the man - and the writer - behind the actor's many faces.

Exhibiting an abiding faith in himself and an ability to think outside the traditional parameters of ethics, religion, rituals, and social mores, rock legend and Kiss founding member Simmons offers his no-holds-barred life philosophy. In this revealing and funny guide, Simmons recounts his rise from an immigrant boy who did not speak English until his teens and paid for college buying and selling old comic books, to his music, recording, acting, and publishing successes. Not only does Gene outline how he achieved both money and happiness, he tells listeners how they can, too!

One of the most influential musical forces of our time, David Foster—producer, arranger, songwriter, performer—has worked with superstars every decade since the 1970s. In this compelling and outspoken memoir, Foster shares revealing portraits and stories from over five decades of working with music superstars, including Michael Bublé, Celine Dion, Natalie Cole, Josh Groban, Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand, and many others. A hitman who produced the soundtrack of our lives, Foster offers glimpses of the musical icons at work and shares secrets for success in the music industry.

More than once, friends of Carl Reiner said, “You ought to write those things down.” And at the age of eighty, Carl finally did. In this funny and engaging memoir, Reiner recounts his show business life in short comic takes....

In you are fan of action—adventure movies with the accent on action—then you no doubt love watching Jackie Chan risk his life to create sensational cinema. As one of the biggest stars to burst into U.S. theaters, Jackie has put America's hottest heroes to shame, wowing audiences with the breathless death-defying stunts that are the highlight of such movies as Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop, Operation: Condor, and his newest blockbuster Rush Hour. But who really is the boyishly handsome, lightening-fast Charlie Chaplin of martial arts movie making?

When Sports Illustrated put him on their cover, they sold more issues than any other in a decade (except the swimsuit edition). Why? Because Dennis Rodman is not just the NBA's greatest rebounder - he's America's most outrageous, outspoken, and provocative athlete. In Bad as I Wanna Be, Rodman shares his candid opinions on everything from fame, money, and race relations to sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.

The American guy is not to be confused with a husband, father, hunk, or intellectual, says guy expert Dave Barry. Published just in time (the American guy faces extinction due to feminism, the men's movement, and stricter sanitation laws), this guide gives women helpful advice for understanding Him (or It) and offers men useful tips on remembering the names of their children and other dilemmas of life.

John H. Johnson, the remarkable entrepreneur who founded the Ebony publishing empire, tells the story of his success. The wealthiest African-American in the US today, Johnson shares his rags to riches saga, from the many obstacles that confronted him to his ultimate triumph.