[.ca] House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of ... (ISBN 0307337235)

Collapsing "House":
The Hilton name has become synonymous with trashy behavior, media stunts and sex tapes, as well as one of the most infamous nonentities of the twenty-first century. So it was inevitable that somebody would write a juicy tell-all about that family. It's misnamed, however -- Jerry Oppenheimer's "House of Hilton" should have been called "Paris Hilton and the Four Generations From Hell That Spawned Her." Because that basically describes this moderately juicy little tell all, which could use more telling and more Hiltons. After an introduction revealing that Kathy Hilton is basically an older version of her daughter -- and unafraid to come up with ridiculous lies -- the book starts delving into her family history... backwards. Kathy and Rick became the trashy, demanding lordlings of the hotel, treating the less moneyed as so many unpaid servants so they could go partying. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it turns out. Kathy was the daughter of a frustrated singer (known as Big Kathy) who got pregnant, and had to give up her aspirations. But instead she decided to achieve fame through her daughters, turning them into diva child actors -- and Kathy into a younger version of herself. Namely, a psychotic user of everyone she came across. Just when you're despairing of anything about the title family, Oppenheimer thankfully changes his focus to Conrad Hilton, the last of the clan to do any real work. He was a shrewd businessman who turned a single dusty hotel into a massive chain -- the Depression was only a stumbling block for this guy. He was also a devoted womanizer, with a pair of sultry spitfire wives -- one of whom slept with his son. But his children and grandchildren managed to outpace Connie's wild life. While he made an empire, son Nicky married and divorced Elizabeth Taylor, chased numerous starlets, and immersed himself in drugs and booze. And then there is Nicky's great-niece -- the infamous Paris, a media prostitute reknowned for constant sex, partying, drunkenness and snotty behavior. And her X-rated tape, of course. "House of Hilton" never pretends to be an objective classy tell-all. After all, look at the subject matter -- Oppenheimer covers everyone from Mafia sons to slutty celebutantes, sociopathic stage moms to abused A-list actresses. It's like a soap opera, except nobody would allow some of these things on daytime television. Oppenheimer writes in a sort of tabloidy, chatty style here, which isn't surprising when he credits a number of gossip sites and tabloid magazines. But he does turn out interesting tidbits about the Hilton family that weren't previously out in the open. And he casts a jaded eye at older material, such as Nicky Hilton's abuse of Elizabeth Taylor, for the brief months of their marriage. The only problem with "House of Hilton" is perhaps that it could have used a little more juice and scandal, and it spends too much time on people who are NOT Hiltons even by marriage, such as Big Kathy and her ex-husbands. It would have been more interesting to hear the personal peccadilloes of lesser-known Hiltons than to hear about Big Kathy putting screws in a cheeseburger. Oppenheimer spends too much time on the Richards family in "House of Hilton," but the book picks up substantially in the second half when he gets to the Hiltons themselves. Light and frothy, with a moderate amount of juice.

Good Summer Read:
If you're looking for a book with drama, juice and hollywood, this is definately a good one to choose. Although the book does seem to focus only on Kathy Sr., Kathy Jr., Rick Hilton, Conrad Hilton, Nicky Hilton (not Paris's sister) and Paris herself, the family history surrounding the family is interesting and helps the reader see that Paris's behaviour kind of runs in the family. Would have liked to have read more about Conrad's other sons, such as Barron....after all, didn't he father Rick Hilton? But all in all, a good summer read!!