Name Drop

December 23, 2019
With a sharp wit, television personality Mathews (Man Up!) navigates a galaxy of Hollywood stars to deliver a hilarious collection of celebrity stories. He writes of spending Christmas Eve with the Kardashian clan, sharing gossipy drinks with the late novelist Jackie Collins after they met on Twitter, downing wine and Xanax with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville, and trading workout tips with Beyoncé. Along the way he recalls embarrassing moments, such as when Barbara Walters, forgetting who he was, asked “Who is he and why is he here?” just as he was about to cohost The View, and experiencing a rude encounter with Friends actors Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc. Many chapters end with “Rossipes,” or recipes with a Mathews-like twist, such as “Ain’t No Other Ham Rollup” and “Korndashians With a Kick!.” Mathews’s unbound enthusiasm about his profession is infectious (formerly a regular on Chelsea Lately, he’s currently on RuPaul’s Drag Race), and his stories are dishy but never cruel, making this a guilt-free treat. Perfect for readers of celebrity gossip, these laugh-out-loud vignettes never fail to amuse.

December 1, 2019
Comedian Mathews (Man Up!, 2013) is known for his distinctive voice, and fans will be pleased to see how well his gleeful corniness translates onto the page in this collection of charmingly told essays about celebrity close encounters. Despite his own fame (he is currently a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race), he still gets starstruck, but who among us would not be caught breathless by a surprise meeting with Lady Gaga? Mathews is also a keen appreciator of what makes stars not just like us, so when they snub him (Barbara Walters, alas), he can shake it off. He devotes some time to his stint on Celebrity Big Brother, where his whispered conversation with Omarosa Manigault about her time in the White House made national news. But then he shifts to much lighter fare, like not-so-subtly following Liza Minelli, wearing a bedazzled Ed Hardy track suit, down a New York street. Each chapter starts with a "Rossipe," both for a cocktail and an hors d'oeuvre, which just adds to the party-like atmosphere of this pop-culture gab-fest of a book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)