THE WORLD'S WEALTHIEST LOSERS
by
Margaret Nicholas
ISBN 1-85152-866-0
This is the kind of literary cheap thrill that I sometimes look forward to. A cheap book (RM5.90 in this case), with tacky content. But hey, when you are bored, reading about wealthy losers beats scrolling through your Facebook wall. Because on Facebook, everyone's probably bragging about their exotic holiday or posting pictures of dogs, cats and babies or worse still, posting those annoying motivational quotes and religious reminders.
Well, cheesy or not, this book has had 5 re-printings which is more than some other respectable books can claim. Admittedly, the "stars" in this book are somewhat from a another era. Most likely your mother or grandmother would have heard of them. So forget about getting the lowdown on today's celebrities. Names like Gloria Vanderbilt, Barbara Hutton, Evalyn Walsh McClean, George Hudson, Mario Lanza ring a bell? The most recognisable names to me are Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, John D. Rockefellar and Imelda Marcos. Though I must say it is rather harsh to brand Marilyn and Elvis as losers just because they screwed up some bits of their life towards the end. Compared to today's stars, what they folks did was TAME.
There's a lot of dirt dished up in each account but I treat it purely for entertainment sake and I think everything written should be taken with a pinch of salt. Nothing seems to be corroborated and frankly, there is a LOT of heresay. I guess we'll just never know what was true and what was made up but in the end, it doesn't matter because it isn't anyone's business anyway. These people were famous in their time and had lots of money to lead glamorous and decadent lifestyles so I guess when they screwed up, the ordinary Joes and Janes liked to read about it because that proves that even rich and beautiful folks have problems just like everyone else.
I don't see this book sold anymore in the shops. I guess it has run its course after 5 re-printings, the last being in 2006.
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