Gatecrasher was billed as a fun gossip column tell all. Sadly, there wasn't very much dirt dished. More of a slow about the the author's background.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and for an honest review.

This book was on my radar for quite some time. I am a bit of a celebrity gossip junkie so I finished each chapter quickly. This was a fun pool read!

I tried to get into this book, but couldn’t do it. The writing was pretentious and it didn’t hold my attention.

Ben makes you feel like you are right there crashing parties and rubbing elbow with the rich, famous, and extremely crazy. Join in with the fun and see how gossip really runs.

Gatecrasher is a mixture of news, pop culture, gossip, and memoir. Ben Widdicombe has worked in journalism for some two decades, covering the rich, famous, and infamous. This book roughly follows the trajectory of his career - moving to New York from Australia and his time at Page Six, TMZ, and the New York Times. There are many interesting digressions and asides detailing various celebrity encounters - some which he reported at the time and some that are newly revealed in this book. I was thoroughly entertained. None of his observations uncover anything that a seasoned gossip-watcher. would not already know. The particulars may be new - I lol'ed at Tom Cruise slipping on the floor at Prada - but he does not necessarily offer new insight into the minds of lives of his subjects.
I found Widdicombe's defense of gossip as real-time history or a kind of contemporary anthropology to be intriguing. The author has spent most of his professional life in the gossip world, and surely has had to defend that choice at more than a few dinner parties. To illustrate this point, he draws a line from Paris Hilton and the rise of the "heiress trend" to the election of Trump in 2016. This argument was so compelling. And, Widdicombe lays out a timeline of gossip events and news items that show this trajectory in a way that would. make most people sit up and pay more attention to "gossip" as "news" - or at least appreciate it for what it can tell us about trends in public opinion. I wanted this to be more fully developed.
This was a fun and interesting read. The most interesting portions felt tantalizingly brief. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in gossip or how pop culture impacts politics and "culture" culture. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy to read and review.

It just started off too slowly for me to want to read his story. There was nothing i found interesting with the chapters I read.

A witty look into the ways people became celebrities. From sex tapes, to the “jizz” covered walls at the Huffington Post, to politicians and their philanthropic friends. There was more substance in this book than I expected from a book based on Ben Widdicombe’s career in gossip. Although the book focuses on celebrities and their publicity making machines it touches on economic issues, religious bias, and ageism. Even though I don’t know anything about New York society it was an interesting look into the gossip world.

This was a quick, easy read that had me constantly Googling different names, similar to how I felt reading Elton John’s memoir. There was lots of interesting name dropping from an insider‘s viewpoint. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This is such a good book. I could not put it down. I think it was because I could relate and was interested in all that the author had to say. The author began his own column and was later able to write for other columns. He spoke about attending Ivana Trumps wedding. All of the Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan, and Brittney Spears times that I remember seeing on TV, he spoke about being right there. There were his almost interview with Epstein and other times that I remember hearing about. It felt like you were there right with him.

I loved reading about New York through the decades and felt a connecting to the writer, it felt as if we were gossiping together.

Ben Widdcombe is a good writer. His description of normal everyday people grabbed me and brought me into this book that was ostensibly going to be about the wealthy and ultra wealthy. This isn't the kind of book I would normally read, so I was skittish as I started. I have nothing against reading the latest gossip, but I'd rather do that as a five minute read while waiting in a doctor's office, not while I am sitting down next to an imaginary fire place with the crackling light from my e-reader. But, this book is more than who slept with who where (although, there is some of that in here, too. Scandalous!) but interesting insights into real human beings, sometimes celebrities, other times people working somewhere in New York City.

This is Widdicombe's New York life story. The celebrities and gossip are happy after thoughts. He doesn't hold back in either self praise, nor with self criticism. For example, he didn't skip writing about Weinstein nor did the author absolve himself in relation to failing to get the full story at the time.

I enjoyed Widdcombe's insights into people and situations that were seen as throw away anecdotes, but stuck with me after I read the book. I'd read a book that told the life story of the Baron, or even more pages about working in the hot dog stand. He had the ability to make all of his workplaces come to life. From newsrooms to art galleries.

The one weak portion of the book is Widdicombe's attempts to tie Paris Hilton's rise to fame as emblematic for everything that has happened since then. Now, I understood his arguments, and maybe even agreed with them. But, I didn't feel like he provided nearly enough evidence to make the case. It felt more like someone saying "Let me add an interesting thesis to the book to try to tie everything together.", than a fully formed argument.

And as a note: I got this book for free. That didn't affect my feelings for the book. It just made me read it earlier than I might have otherwise.

This book is filled with astute observations, erudite analogies, and plain old fashioned good gossip. Widdicombe offers a frank look at his profession that does not provide pat answers to the questions about morality or utility. His often acidic description of people had me rushing to google pictures of the people he described. He has a gift for creative description, no doubt honed over a career dedicated to helping readers envision a series of glittering spectacles they could never hope to witness themselves. Recommended for fans of The Devil Wears Prada and Sex in the City

This book was entertaining but not what I expected. The book overall is the story of the authors ascent into the New York "celeb" elite, but half of the book is just about him doing menial labor around the city. It didn't have as much tell-all celebrity wild party stories as i was hoping. Or even crazy stories to begin with. Overall a fun read, but don't expect any mind-blowing reveals.

I lived and partied in NYC in the late 1990’s - 2000s, and I read both Page Six and Gatecrasher faithfully, so I gobbled up this delicious book immediately. This is a dishy and intelligent analysis of our celebrity culture which also explains (literally, in its own chapter) how Paris Hilton gave us President Donald Trump.

There are more fantastic stories in here than I can count, from the nostalgia of 90s celebs and their antics at that era’s hotspots (Courtney Love! Twilo! Moomba!) to post-9/11 New York stories, to the current celebrity obsessed culture that is now the norm. It is fascinating to hear about Widdicombe’s vastly different experiences at the Post, the News, TMZ and finally the New York Times. What a life he’s had, and, as always, since his days at the Post, his writing is hilarious, irreverent and infectious but with a certain moral center. This is a great celebrity gossip book but also a lovely book about New York and a life well lived. Highly recommended.

If you live in New York, and have for years, you'll likely find this book entertaining. At a minimum you'll enjoy the familiarity of stories taking place in hot spots and notable locales in your city. Similarly, if you've read gossip columns for the past few decades and consider yourself in-the-know when it comes to the tabloids, you'll probably want to read this book. At a minimum, you'll enjoy the familiarity of the names being thrown around as the author lists people he sees at events.

That being said, I live in New York, keep up with celebrity stories and was still disappointed by this book. Perhaps I had expectations that were too high but I think the larger issue is that the book isn't sure what it wants to do. Does it want to tell Widdicombe's story as an immigrant making it in the US? Does it want to spill all of the tea on celebrity stories that filled tabloids over the years? It's tough to tell since he didn't do quite enough of either to make it worth the read.

Gatecrasher is a confessional written by a gossip columnist, who has rubbed elbows with some of the most infamous, rich, and powerful people in New York and Hollywood society, including figures like Paris Hilton, the Trumps, Chris Cuomo, Anna Wintour, the Clintons, and the Kardashians. It was fascinating to read Ben's story, as he first moved to New York around the turn of the century and went on to start a celebrity gossip blog, which was filled with stories that he picked up along the way from crashing parties and events filled with Manhattan's elite.

I found a lot of the stories to be funny, intriguing, and juicy, but I felt that the narrative was a bit all-over-the-place. The middle of the book was a bit disheveled and dry, as most of the engrossing stories were at the beginning and end.

I really enjoyed this book overall and I found Ben's tone to be refreshingly honest, candid, and funny, while still treating those whom he wrote about with respect. This integrity is often missing from journalism nowadays and it was nice to read something that managed to be interesting and integral at the same time.

The author recounts his career as a gossip columnist for the past two decades and the rich and famous personalities he has encountered along the way. Before entering the world of gossip, the author moved to New York from Australia. His days were spent working various odd jobs like selling hot dogs at a sidewalk food stand and at a photography gallery. Nights were spent partying at clubs as well as crashing parties. His early days in New York City are vividly described and sometimes fascinating. He recounts the early days of the Internet and how he and his partner started an online column called "Chic Happens". He later went on to work for Page Six and TMZ. There are a few amusing and interesting anecdotes along the way like when Jerry Lewis insinuated to him that he wrote the majority of "Profiles in Courage" for Kennedy. It is fun to hear about who was nice and who wasn't (Anna Wintour and Joan Collins!). Unfortunately, these little tidbits are few and far between. Instead, the majority of the book focuses on people I'd rather not hear more about (Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and most of all, the 45th). I hear enough about these jerks on a daily basis and unfortunately this book centers on them.

"Society" journalist Ben Widdcombe takes us on a two-decade romp through Manhattan's party culture. The author candidly, and unabashedly, unmasks his playbook for entry in to the world of the rich and famous---or, perhaps just those who aspire to be either rich or famous.

There were few surprises in his memoir, unless we count his willingness to chronicle his ups and downs in the profession. I admire the author's self-effacing candor; he makes no effort to justify "gossip" as high-culture or of anything other than what it is. Perhaps the most interesting revelation in his book is his choice of the "Most Influential Person of 20th Centure Culture. I won't spoil it for you by revealing who this is !

Netgalley provided me a complimentary copy of this book in return for a candid review.