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Dewey Decimal Number: 791.45028092 EAN: 9781416950738 ISBN: 1416950737 Label: Simon Spotlight Manufacturer: Simon Spotlight Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 288 Publication Date: March 11, 2008 Publisher: Simon Spotlight Studio: Simon Spotlight Editorial Review: Product Description: Tori Spelling Reads Her Fabulous #1 New York Times Bestseller Amazon.com Exclusive A Bonus Story and Family Photo from Tori Spelling The Manor  People are always asking about my parents' mansion, which they called the 'Manor,' but I don't really spend much time talking about it in sTORI Telling because I didn't grow up there. After demolishing Bing Crosby's former estate in Holmby Hills, a fancy neighborhood in west L.A., they spent six years building the Manor. It's about 46,000 square feet (slightly over an acre) and has 123 rooms. Not that I counted or measured. I got those figures from the press, just like everyone else. Anyway, we moved in when I was seventeen and I only lived there for two years. In some ways the house is like a normal house, but everything is on a bigger scale. It has four floors: the basement (which we call the 'Lower Level,' probably because that's its designation on the elevator) and the first, second, and third floors. The first floor has a kitchen, a breakfast room, a dining room, an office, a family room, a living room, and a projection room. There's a grand foyer with sweeping staircases on each side. Oh, and there's also a guards' room and the staff dining room. Everyone except fancy guests comes through the service entrance into a hallway with the guards' room and the kitchen. The kitchen is gigantic, and my fondest memory of it is from when I was twenty-one and had just moved back in after splitting up with a boyfriend. I came home drunk with some girlfriends, and we pillaged the two double-sized Sub-Zero refrigerators. There was always bulk food in there for the staff. We pulled out a big vat of chicken salad and a tub of peanut dressing, both of which looked like they'd been made for giants. Somewhere in the middle of our feast we decided to have a food fight, and the five of us started flinging food at each other. Soon we were covered in peanut dressing from head to toe and the pristine kitchen was a mess. Then we heard a ding, the elevator doors opened, and there was my mother. She stared at us in silent disbelief. I said, 'We're going to clean it up!' She just said, 'Mmm hmm,' and left the room. I felt a surge of love for her in that moment. It took us hours to clean the kitchen, but it was worth it. That moment made it feel, for once, like home. --Tori Spelling Related Items:      see moreAverage Rating:
 Rating:  - Not very goodThis book is okay. Although I thought it made Ms. Spelling appear to be a self-absorbed narcissist who is completely out of touch with the real world. She spends an inordinate amount of time talking up her "accomplishments" and trying to dispel the perception that her success is directly attributable to her family ties. Additionally, the constant complaints she lodges about her life and her overwhelming desire to be "normal" has the unintended effect of justifying the fact that she really is a "poor little rich girl." Overall, the book is irritating, shallow and confirms exactly what it tries so hard to dispel. Rating:  - Such a dishin hot bookI loved this book. It was full of life and dished a lot about things that were close to her heart...she shared a part of her heart fans can't see just looking from a far. I could relate...after all we are ALL human and we all have these type of things come up in our lives just not so wordly known. Read the book and you'll see all you never could. Rating: - She's so normal....This was a great book. I never knew the 'other' side of Tori. I never pictured her to be so down to earth and 'normal'. She is not into fame like she is perceived. I never really like her on 90210, but after watching her reality show and reading this book, I see her being the typical girl next door. I would recommend this book to all women. Rating:  - A surprisingly delightful read...I purchased this book for my Kindle on a whim in an airport. I was neither a Tori Spelling fan - nor a Tori Spelling hater - and although I used to watch 90210 years ago and caught a few episodes of Tori and Dean: Inn Love, I honestly can't say I would have ever thought about Tori Spelling again except that this book popped up on the Kindle list, and I was in a rush to get on the plane and buy a book to read during the flight. And yet when I started reading this book, I quickly became intrigued by this delightfully refreshing story about the real life of someone we thought we "knew" from endless magazine articles and TMZ clips, but who is actually quite different. This book clearly shows that not everything is at it appears; that money alone cannot buy happiness; that celebrities struggle with many of the same issues we "regular" people do; and that life can be complicated whether you live in Beverly Hills or Beverly, Massachusetts. The writing style is very conversational and easy to read, and Tori is humorous, self-reflective, honest (even when it doesn't paint her in a good light) and humble. She does not point fingers at others (like her mom) without also recognizing her own faults and mistakes. I honestly can't say I have ever read another autobiography that seemed so real and balanced. I read the book very quickly and was so glad that I happened upon this little find. It is not a great work of literature, but it certainly was a pleasure to read on my trip, and I leave the book feeling like I have a better understanding of the story behind Tori, and a better attitude towards the "rich and famous," whose lives are probably not as perfect as they seem from the outside. Rating: - stori tellingeasy reading but enjoyable. had some good insights that i can use in my uwn life. |
Marie opens the show with an outdoor rendition of "We Need a Little Christmas" and then moves into the studio where Kirk Cameron arrives on a snowmobile (fresh from rescuing a trio of blonde snow bunnies) to read "The First Christmas Story." Lee Greenwood performs "Christmas to Christmas" and later a duet with Marie. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is sung by Sally Struthers and daughter with help from the Osmond Boys--six stepping stones ages 4 to 12 who have the senior Osmonds' moves down pat. The adorable award, though, goes to Marie's 5-year-old son, Steven, who performs a rockin' version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (clapping on the off-beat nearly the whole song).
Marie has a good, strong voice, but many of the songs are overproduced and melodramatic. This, most likely, is a product of the big, pouffy '80s (her hair and outfits are also bigger-than-life) rather than a reflection of her talents. The closing number, "O Holy Night," sung by Marie alone, is quite lovely. --Dana Van Nest
