Customer Reviews

Red Carpet Diaries: Confessions of a Glamour Boy

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I don't think even one editor at Ballantine ever read this book before it was sent off for printing. There are typos everywhere and there is no overall theme to tie these random chit-chatty stories together. A few of his stories are funny, but for the most part, this is a total yawn, and the celebrity bits are skimpy and boring. Steven Cojocaru's life, on which this book goes into a fair amount of detail, is also rather uninteresting. I got this for free at the book launch in Beverly Hills or else I never would have bothered. Don't waste your money on this. Check it out from the library or wait for it to come out in paperback. There must be better tell-all glamour-world books out there.

I love Hollywood gossip books. This was the biggest waste of paper ever (and mind you, without the added highlighted quotes taking up most of the page ...) Really no inside scoop on anyone or anything, much less the author himself. A series of "aren't I cute" quotes that made me feel quite empty at the end. One of the most shallow people I have ever read about, used to like his appearances, now he makes my skin crawl.

I love Cojo's sassy commentary on tv and in People. This book lives up to his honesty on the red carpet. He always tells it like it is and this book is no exception. It's not brain science, but it's fun and fluffy, and he never claims to be doing much more than having a good time. I spent a very satisfying afternoon immersed in the glam world of celebrities and Cojo.

I love celebrities and their clothes and their makeup and reading about them, so I enjoyed this book. My only complaint was that I wanted more backstage dish. Steven's section in People magazine is second only to the celebrity clothes pictures. I loved Melissa Rivers comment on Elizabeth Taylor. More pictures and dish in your next book, Steven!

I have been reading the other reviews and every one who disliked the book needs to relax. If you didn't like it, you didn't like... that's what makes horse racing. I however, was entertained and found the book quite funny, perfectly matching COJO's television personality. It's an easy read that I really enjoyed. It's cute and funny and does not deserve the harsh response it has received on amazon.com. Great beach reading...nice job Cojo.

If this were a movie, it would win one of the Razzies -- you know, those awards for horrible movies that come out around the same time as the Oscars. I thought this might be a fun read, but I was angered by how bad this book turned out to be. It's just random musings from a sad C-list celebrity and fashion victim who appears to believe his own PR and now feels overwhelmed by own self importance.

My comments:
a) It's terribly written and a study in disorganisation, not to mention patently unfunny.
b) Even in our shallow, celebrity-focused culture, a few minutes on TV doesn't necessarily make someone a celebrity. For the record, I had never heard of him and none of my friends' had heard of him either.
c) Beware of the 'glowing' reviews here on Amazon; most of them were clearly written by his friends. (Who else would know to call him 'Cojo'?)
d) How he got a job mocking or praising how other people dress is completely beyond me. In most of the book's photos he looks not unlike a female impersonator trying to pass as Keith Richards circa 1976. (Note: most of the photos in the book are of himself.)
e) He has photos of invitations to a few premiers and fashion shows in the book, as if this proves that he's cool for attending. Whatever.

How a book like this even gets published is beyond me. I know that times are hard in publishing but it appears that Ballantine Books must have sacked all of its editors or something. What Joan Rivers is doing working with this guy is a mystery as well.

Self-described 'ugly duckling' from Montreal lands in Hollywood and hob-nobs with the rich and famous on Hollywood's Red Carpet. However, about 85% of this skimpy (165 pages) journal is about his transformation into an 'oddity' rather than the uglier duckling (or as he says on the last pages; from a scale of 1-10 he went from a 1 to a 5). The other 15% is just filler...dropping a celebrity name here and there in bold print, mind you (he must have smartly sensed the average reader would be skimming this dread, and really, there's not much to skim). Literally, that is all there is - until he shares his new-found wisdom on the last page; "beauty is only skin deep - it's what's inside that counts". Truly profound.

How anyone can make experiences on the Red Carpet seem so lifeless and dull is beyond me. On the book jacket, it says that this is Cojocaru's first book. Hopefully, it will be his last.

how did this book get published ?
the opening chapters are good it then turns into a tedious name drop session that is neither bitchy enough nor funny enough to be interesting .

get yourself a copy of INSTYLE instead !

Some witty, funny stories and insights from the glamorous red carpet world. That's pretty much all this book has to offer. The rest of the space is the tale of the author's attempts to make it in Hollywood as...whatever it is he is. The major flaw of the book is the fact that Steven put himself into it way too much and for such a colorful person his life story is far from the autobiography of a starlet. Honestly you read more about what HE'S wearing than what the stars are wearing. And he's not the best writer in the world. BUT, he is funny and the little quotes and anecdotes on the book jacket are enough to rate this materialistic fluff 3 stars. But Steven should definately not quit his day job.

Steven Cajocaru has no business commenting on the fashion choices of others. He's not qualified, has terrible taste, and is boring and self-absorbed too boot. Or at least that's what his books leads me to conclude.