The is a memoir of Jeremy Murphy, editor of the glossy TV magazine Watch. He recounts his high flying days escorting the stars to photo shoots. He does dish some dirt. I liked the behind the scenes dealing with the photographers, set designers, and stylists. I marked one star off because of the Q and A at the end of each chapter. They were self indulgent and unnecessary. They often just recapped the chapter and many questions asked were already answered. Otherwise it was a quick light read about celebrities. I did like it that examples of the photo shoots were included.

Thank you, Netgalley, for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

Must read for all pop culture fans. I found myself enjoying the shoot and fashion stories more than the celebrity, which is not like me. It's fascinating and the Q&A with Sophia Paulmier is the icing on the cake that creativity baked

I read this book in a single evening. It is well-written and engagingly frivolous. The book will make one appreciate the efforts of photographers and talent management.

Had high hopes for this one based on the blurb purporting high life and scandalous stories. Started out ok when he was growing up and setting out on a career but rapidly grew repetitive. And the scandalous stories were never that juicy. Maybe because the author couldn't remember the events, just the cost of it afterwards.

So, the editor of a magazine I’ve never hear of before (“Watch” anyone?) wants to impress by showing all the jocks and popular kids that he grew up with that, see, he really DID matter by sharing his incredibly long stories of getting drunk and trashing hotel rooms while traveling with B and C list celebrities while he also makes a nasty, stereotypical joke about the state I live in.

The book is actually even more obnoxious than that as the chapters are typically made up of an anecdote about a photo shoot, gratuitous mention of one very famous photographer (who is likely the only reason any advertiser ever cared about this magazine at all, and Murphy mentions him constantly…you would think he was on the staff of the magazine), stories about how Murphy begged for freebies from choice hotels and airlines (which, don’t get me wrong, is a great grift.)

THEN the chapter ends with a Q&A about what we just read from Murphy’s own friend/fluffer. Sample question: “Your honest humility with writing
‘the magazine was two years old, and it started to feel like TV Guide’ is powerful…”. Dear God.

I don’t give a lot of one star reviews, so congratulations, Mr. Murphy, for really earning it.

My thanks to Post Hill Press and NetGalley for a copy of “ Too Good To Fact Check “ for an honest review.

I quite enjoyed reading this , despite the fact that ,as someone who is from England , I wasn’t really sure who some of the celebrities covered in this book were !
It was interesting to see what is involved when trying to set up a photo shoot, and the antics that the celebs and editorial staff get up to

2.5 stars. Early on he says “Super P put up with me, and I was very happy he put up with me because not a lot of people do”. Presumably this is because he has a tendency to be a bit manic with wild and crazy ideas, and a bit bitchy. See his comments about anything he doesn’t like, such as Berlin or West Virginia (“The Greenbrier is a stately resort in West Virginia steeped in history, tradition, luxury, blah blah blah. The truth is it’s a giant turd”). But that doesn’t stop him using it and staying in comped rooms for his team and the talent (“They’d been kind to us, and I felt obligated to return the favour. I shouldn’t have.”). Well poor little dude, was the free luxury stay not up to your liking?

Also annoying was the way he’d swan around the world (mostly Paris but sometimes elsewhere) on free trips because of advertising, but then he says “I loathe ‘content creators’ and ‘influencers’, more so the ‘influencers’. It’s a paid racket.” DUDE. Are you even hearing yourself at this point? Do you hear the hypocrisy in such a statement?

He intersperses each chapter with photos of the actors from the photoshoots, and yes, some of these are beautiful - Pauley Perrette in Paris as a Degas ballerina stands out. And he was clearly connected in getting photographers, stylists, etc. to deliver the shoots each time. He obviously likes the fun bits of the job - the free travel, luxury stays, fine dining (and lots of drinking… a few black outs are mentioned, and a lifetime ban from one hotel…), but less so the boring bits. Until someone dangles a luxury hotel visit in front of him and then he’s all ears… Take the press check, which required an annual inspection of the printing site. “Truth was, I didn’t give a shit. What was I checking? The ink? Paper? Drug tests for the operators? It always seemed like a useless exercise, which is why I avoided it up to that point. But in 2009, I found out that a five-star hotel and restaurant I’d longed to visit […] was nearby.” Oh well then, now he’s interested…

Or maybe what annoyed me was how he’d then wangle freebies to celebrate his birthday, or put the talent’s room number on bar bills because the bean counters seldom checked or questioned the stars’ bills, allowing the magazine crew to drink free.

Ultimately the book shows how magazines organise photoshoots and just how much expense goes into them (mostly picked up by the airlines and hotels, throwing around first class tickets and suites). It was interesting to see how much work goes into what might only be a few photos in a magazine, but I can’t say I wound up liking the author or the lifestyle you’d lead… sorry. The Q&A between chapters didn’t really add anything either.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.