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World Hotels - House of Hilton: From Conrad to Paris: A Drama of Wealth, Power, and Privilege
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List Price: $13.95
Our Price: $11.86
Your Save: $ 2.09 ( 15% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 647.94092
EAN: 9780307337238
ISBN: 0307337235
Label: Three Rivers Press
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2007-07-03
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Release Date: 2007-07-03
Studio: Three Rivers Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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This intimate, shocking—and thoroughly unauthorized—portrait of the Hiltons chronicles the family’s amazing odyssey from poverty and obscurity to glory and glamour.
From Conrad Hilton, the eccentric “innkeeper to the world” who built a global empire beginning with a fleabag in a dusty Texas backwater, to Paris Hilton, his great-granddaughter, whose fame took off with a sex video, House of Hilton is the unauthorized, eye-popping portrait of one of America’s most outrageous dynasties.
If you want to know how Paris Hilton became who she is, you have to know where she came from. From scores of candid and exclusive interviews, from private documents and public records, New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer has dug deeply into her paternal and maternal family roots to reveal the often shocking, tragic, and comic lives that helped shape the world’s most famous and fabulous “celebutante.”
The cast of characters includes Paris’s maternal grandmother, a materialistic “stage mother from hell.” There is Paris’s maternal grandfather, who became an alcoholic housepainter. The life of Paris’s mother, Kathy Hilton, groomed by her mother to be a star and marry rich, is candidly revealed, too, as is that of Paris’s father, Rick, Conrad’s grandson.
Paris’s tabloid antics are truly in the Hilton tradition. Set against a glittery Hollywood backdrop—with appearances by stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Natalie Wood, and Joan Collins—House of Hilton brings to light a cornucopia of closely held Hilton family secrets and sexual peccadilloes, such as the many affairs and the nightclub-brawling, boozing, and pill-popping life of Paris’s great-uncle, Nick Hilton. The story of his hellish marriage to Liz Taylor alone rivals any of today’s Hollywood breakups.
Behind it all was Conrad Hilton, who built his worldwide empire through the Great Depression while others were jumping out of windows. A devout Catholic publicly, his personal life was that of an unrepentant sinner. His first marriage was to Mary Barron Hilton, a sexy, hard-drinking, gambling Kentucky teenager half Conrad’s age. Wife number two was the gorgeous Zsa Zsa, who, like Paris, was famous for being famous. Their tumultuous marriage and headline-making divorce are revealed here in all their juicy glory.
In all, House of Hilton is a gripping American saga, from the fire and passions that built a business empire to the debauchery and amorality passed on from one generation to the next.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: 14...this is not a kid's review.
Comment: This book is about Paris Hilton's grandparents, parents, and aunts. It includes the grandparent's ex-wives and husbands as well.If you want to know the history of the Hiltons then you should definately by this book. It mentions Paris in the book, but it definately isn't just about her. This is a good book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A fun read but not all all(ways) about Paris
Comment: The house of hilton does give justice on depicting the characters of Paris' Grandmother and great uncle (Nick Hilton - the one that married Liz Taylor) however it does not shed a lot of light on Paris Hilton and her Parents' life. We see that she gets her "I need to be the center of attention and in the spotlight at all times" demeanor from maternal grandma Big Kathy. All in all, I thought the book was a really easy read. I'm just curious as to how Paris would fill in her occupation on her tax forms. Is there an option for 24/7/365 days party animal socialite. I am fascinated by how she made a marketing brand for herself. The going rates to have Paris make an appearance at your party approx $200K..As to how she got to be so marketable? -- being a victim of a popular sex video that was fuzzy and was a popular download? I'm not sure I'd be proud of that.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Quite What I Expected.
Comment: When I first picked up HOUSE OF HILTON to read, I thought it was going to be a juicy tell-all about Paris Hilton and her family, especially her parents and the famous lineage back to her great-grandfather who started the whole Hilton Hotel chain. Though some of that is in the book, there is a lot missing and the stories aren't as interesting as I thought they might be.
The book is divided into two major parts. The first section looks at Paris' family on her maternal side while the second section of the book examines the lives of Paris' great-grandfather Conrad and her great-uncle Nick Hilton. The work is bookend by some stories about Paris and a few anecdotes about her sister Nicky. It then follows the life of Paris' mother Kathy Richards and her grandmother "Big" Kathy Dugan Avanzino Richards Catain Fenton. The second half of the book examines how Conrad Hilton built his hotel empire and his very eccentric lifestyle, including his contrary religious devotion and playboy lifestyle. The last part of the book takes an in-depth look at Conrad's son, Nick who lived a lifestyle that parallels Paris'.
I can understand why the book looks at the Paris Hilton's maternal heritage because by examining the lives of her mother and maternal grandmother one can see where Paris learned her sense of entitlement and her gold-digging ways. I realize that much of this information about Paris Hilton's maternal legacy has never been collected together, but I found much of it to be repetitive and not all that interesting. The second half of the book held my attention better. However, as with the first part of the book there is a great deal lacking. The last fourth of the book is all about Nick Conrad, Paris Hilton's great-uncle. Nick was a flagrant playboy and gained fame much the same way that Paris has, simply by using his wealth to become famous. Nick Hilton lived a very wild and interesting life and it makes for a good read and also serves as an example of the heritage that Paris has been given. However, Nick was Paris' great-uncle. The book hardly mentions Paris grandfather Barron, her other great uncle, or even her father. I don't know if it's because their lives were so much more mundane than the other members of the family or what. However, I would have really enjoyed reading something about them because they are more closely related to Paris than Nick was.
The book includes some pictures that help put faces to many of the people the book talks about including several of family member (such as Big Kathy) that most people have never heard of or seen before.
Overall, HOUSE OF HILTON is an okay read. It is filled with facts and tidbits about the Hilton family. It starts off quite slow, but picks up in the second half. Yet, it's not as juicy as I was led to believe. Recommended for people who have a major or invested interest in the Hilton family or anyone who enjoys reading about families of the rich and famous.
Customer Rating:
Summary: House of Hilton
Comment: House of Hilton
By Jerry Oppenheimer
Do you want to know why Paris is the way she is? Then this
book may be perfect for you because it explain the Hilton history.
However to be honest, House of Hilton was not my favorite book. I got
this book because I wanted to learn more about Paris and since the
cover said from Conrad to Paris, I thought there would be quite a bit
of information about her in it. I was disappointed they spent so much
time on other people in the family. This was an unauthorized biography which talked about all of the Hiltons and it spent more time talking about the rest of the family.
Paris is one of my favorite stars and I wanted to learn more about
her. This book showed that most of her family is wild and it is in her
blood. Conrad Hilton was the businessman who made the Hiltons what
they are today - rich hotel people. Her grandmother was a stage mother
and her grandfather an alcoholic. Her Uncle Nick made Paris look calm
since he had affairs, used drugs, and got drunk and got into fights.
Most of the Hiltons married more than once. The book talked about
other people but it was hard to follow who was who at times.
I did learn Paris went from school to school and was allowed to run
wild a lot. She got into trouble when she was young and she barely
got a degree. However she is a good business person and managed to
make money modeling and singing but she got famous from her sex tape.
Jerry Oppenheimer has written a few biographies about a few famous
people some authorized, some weren't. In this book Jerry Oppenheimer
spoke to many people who knew the Hiltons and used a lot of periodical
resources to research this book.
This book explained a lot about the family but I had wanted to read
more about Paris and her sister. This book really went into everyone
else in the family more then them. I did not care about some of the
extended family and was disappointed because of this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: House of '2 Kathies and Uncle Nick"
Comment: This book is totally mis-named. It gives very little inside about the 'House of Hilton' as the public and hotel professionals would see it. It seems as if the author was indeed influenced by the powers-that-are, and it appears strongly that he changed course on more than one occasion for reasons known/unknown.
As the published product comes across, the author picks mostly on Paris Hilton's grandmother (Big Kathy), which is no longer amongst the living, and then on Conrad's oldest son, Nick, which is also amongst the dead. Other than that Nick would be the great-uncle of the current media 'bore', there is no connection whatsoever between these two (2) main characters of the book.
That Conrad Hilton liked the girls has never been a secret at all. He made his pursuits with humor, charm and much class. That he is made out as a cheapscate, which he was not at all, must have come from the line of 'Big Kathy'; but then again, good, old Connie is dead as well...
Erich E.
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