The I Hate Madonna Handbook

How wonderful that someone had the guts to point out the truth all about the forerunner of raunch culture! Thank you! Madonna really made it by being the first media generated super star; trashy, nasty to her fellow female performer (until she was too haggard and old to get away with it as often) and courting stylists, trainers,photographers and designers instead of working on her voice or acting but most importantly the media has always seen her as a sacred cow; be trashy, be vulgar and we will keep you famous,on magazine covers (has Beyonce, Jlo, Whitney Huston, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson EVER had a Vanity fair cover much less TEN of them?) loved AND respected they say. Thus her spawn followed suit. Madonna fans have big secret that Madonna will NEVER be a true glorious sex symbol, like Monroe, Ekberg or Sophia and that she always cared more about money and appearance than sex. Her fans are all "average sheep" who defend themselves. This book definitely needs an update and a reisssue but madonna , who just squelched a tell all by her nanny Melissa Dumas, would flip out because in the past ten years she has rapidly deteriorated and the photos have been hideous. Oh and to all the fans who say we are "jealous?" Dream on, some of us actually don't enjoy seeing nasty human beings succeed with the media coddling them and we like to point that out.

With all the slobbering press coverage of the supposedly new, changed Madonna (I'm not buying it) this hard to find book is a treat. Author points out, in a fun way, Madonna's hypocrisies, contradictions, and downright vile bits of trivia. Book is certainly dated, I'd like to see an updated version, but for a younger Madonna fan, this is a good way to see what the real pop tart was like when she was sleeping her way to the top. For example, Madonna has been a vegetarian in the past not because of any feelings about animals, but because vegetarians are supposedly paler. I'm sure her fans want these books destroyed, so much for free speech. "Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about Madonna, what was I thinking!" This will do until someone she's ruined or stolen from gets the nerve to print a book of their own.

Finally someone intelligent had the courage to pointout how derivative, boring, and shallow Madonna is. As the book mentions, stars like Mae West showed that women could be sexual and powerful WAY before Madonna ever came along, and Mae West did it without trying to look like a Barbie doll, trying to be 20 forever, and with great humor and wit. Way to go Ilene! I wish this book was still in print.