Wendy's Got the Heat FROM THE PUBLISHER
Known as a "shock jock diva" and "a radio gossip guru," Wendy Williams has had a following in the nation's number one media market, New York City, and across the nation from the time she became a top-rated radio personality and "It Girl" in the mid-1990s. Whether she's doing color commentary for the VH1 Fashion Awards or giving advice on her daily drive-time show on New York's WBLS, her fans know that Wendy's Got the Heat.
She's the kind of media personality that artists love -- because she builds them up -- and fear -- because she can bring them down. She's interviewed many of the biggest names in entertainment -- including Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, and many more -- and is known for her ability to disarm and get them to reveal their secrets. Known also as the "biggest mouth in New York," she is candid as well in discussing her own drama-filled life -- including her public struggles to recover from drug addiction, her miscarriages, being forced out of her job, and rehired to a top spot in radio.
Her story begins in a conservative middle-class black family in predominately white Ocean Township, New Jersey, far from the glitz and grit of urban and hip-hop culture. Her family sent her to college more with the intention of seeing her become a respected journalist, wife, and mom than launch a successful career in one of the most male-dominated and competitive media industries of all. Now, it's Wendy's turn to talk about herself; a chance to laugh, cry, and reflect on the woman she was to becoming the woman she is now, the "Queen of Urban Radio."
FROM THE CRITICS
Honey - Amy DuBois Barnett
Wendy Williams, the controversial host of a New York City afternoon radio show, is another great example of resilience and determination. With the incredible success of her daily program — full of celebrity dish and frank advice — Wendy is at the top of her game....The best part? Wendy achieved her success by being herself.
New York Post
If you're dying to find out everything there is to know about radio scandal-monger Wendy Williams, she has a story for you.
Publishers Weekly
Drug addiction, divorce, miscarriages, infidelity-such is the stuff of gripping biography-but the story of Williams' rise to radio fame is less than the sum of its parts, at least as it's told here. Williams, a deejay on New York R&B and hip-hop station WBLS, is something of a rarity in the industry: a top-rated African-American woman. She relates that she always felt like an outsider: "I was the black girl in a practically all-white school. And among the handful of blacks, I was the 'white girl,' the outcast." But she was sure great things were ahead. "I knew that one day my being different would pay off," she writes. While Williams goes on to explain that her success came through hard work and dedication, she doesn't show the nitty-gritty of her job-how a studio operates, how she came up with her style, what she actually does at work-which is a shortcoming in a book about a radio personality. Instead, Williams offers a very readable but standard-issue confessional autobiography, told in a smooth vernacular; she relates her long-term drug abuse, which began with marijuana in college and progressed to cocaine; her problems with men; her desire for happiness and success. The story might be inspirational for some, but it's not always deeply analytical: her drug use, for example, helps her realize that "[g]etting high with muthafuckas doesn't do anything for you except give people something to talk about or worse. Nobody's going to stick around if something goes down. And nobody's got your back." This is an worthy tale, but it's best suited to serious Williams fans, who will welcome information on her hard-won sobriety, her liposuction and breast implants, her love for her son and her tips for keeping a man. (Aug.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
These memoirs by "shock jocks" both belong in the popular genre of celebrity autobiographies, but one is better than the other. Muller, the host of "Mancow Morning MadHouse," a morning radio show nationally syndicated from Chicago and Fox News, attempts to use his coming to terms with his father's death to frame his journey toward freedom and love. When this quickly falls flat, the memoir becomes an egomaniac's boasting tale of his exploits in Amsterdam's Red Light district and hashish-fogged "coffee shops," with lots of shallow libertarian preaching thrown in as a bonus. The narrative is full of odd and unannounced stream-of-consciousness jumps between past and present that appear more meaningful than they are, and there is even an ill-fated attempt at free verse. As much as Muller detests Howard Stern, the undisputed king of shock jocks, this book-compared with Stern's Private Parts and Miss America-makes Muller look like a Stern clone lacking the original's character. Without any redeeming qualities whatsoever, this unimpressive memoir is not recommended. Williams, a shock jock diva and "radio gossip guru" on WBLS in New York (and in national syndication), has a lot more to offer in her autobiography. A successful woman in an overwhelmingly male-dominated profession and a product of a conservative, middle-class upbringing, she describes her college days, her early career with its many setbacks, and her personal struggles to get to the top of her profession. She talks candidly about her marital problems, drug addiction, miscarriages, job insecurity, and other topics far more interesting than the preening rants and juvenile infatuations with genitalia that Stern and Muller often focus on. Written in a down-to-earth, casual style, with only a few instances of the hubris typical of celebrity autobiographies, this book offers encouragement to other women in similar situations who want to break into a heavily male-dominated community. While public libraries in areas where Williams is unknown might want to pass, those where Williams is heard may find it a useful addition to their collections.-Mark Bay, Cumberland Coll. Lib., Williamsburg, KY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Tiresome, simple-minded autobiography from the New York radio personality. Reared in middle-class Wayside, New Jersey, Williams knew from childhood that radio was her destiny. While a freshman at Northeastern, she approached the campus radio station and was soon reading the news on air. An internship at Boston's number-one radio station led to a job offer in St. Croix. After only eight months on the island, Williams broke into the Washington, D.C., AM market. As her career was taking off, however, she developed a lengthy cocaine addiction. Despite the drugs and involvements with less-than-stellar men, Williams continued to achieve, eventually making it into the FM hip-hop market in New York City. She married, went through a messy divorce, and then met future husband Kevin, also involved in the business. They struggled to have a child, but right after the birth of their son, Williams discovered that Kevin was cheating on her. A quick trip to a private detective and the wronged wife realized that "ultimately speaking," she won. Following this revelation is a transcript of a conversation with her husband describing the affair and its resolution, and the whole thing wraps up with author's relationship rules and career advice-all of it embarrassingly simplistic. Instead of juicy insider gossip, Williams focuses strictly on herself. (She includes a brief mention of Salt N Pepa-but only because they invited her to replace their deejay, who was leaving to get married.) Despite her advice to readers that "there is no excuse for not being able to speak well," Williams (or her coauthor) has chosen to write her narrative in the most casual of street slang. On competition from other deejays: "B****s and n****s every day are practicing to do my s**t." On loyalty: "Don't insist on it and then be a shady m*********ker." No bling-bling, no flava.
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