{{short description|2004 book by Andrew Breitbart}} {{Infobox book | name = Hollywood, Interrupted | image = Hollywood Interrupted.jpg | caption = Cover of the 2004 edition | author = Andrew Breitbart,<br />Mark Ebner | illustrator = | cover_artist = Getty Images | country = United States <br/>Canada | language = English | series = | subject = Celebrity | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | release_date = February 24, 2004 | media_type = Print | pages = 416 | isbn = 978-0-471-45051-1 | dewey = 791.4302/8/092279494 22 | congress = PN1993.5.U65 B678 2004 | oclc = 54774468 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}
'''''Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon – The Case Against Celebrity''''' is a book and website authored by Andrew Breitbart, with co-author Mark Ebner. The book was published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons. The writing focuses primarily on what Breitbart and Ebner sees as the disconnected, self-indulgent nature of Hollywood culture. The book was on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list, and was also a ''Los Angeles Times'' bestseller. The title references the 1999 film ''Girl, Interrupted''.
== Contents == ''Hollywood, Interrupted'' takes a look at the culture of celebrity, discussing the mannerisms of celebrities such as Barbra Streisand,<ref name="walker">{{cite magazine |last=Walker |first=Jesse |author-link=Jesse Walker |title=Switch and Bait |magazine=The American Spectator |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=60–61 |publisher= |date=May 2004 |url=http://spectator.org/archives/2004/05/20/switch-and-bait |access-date= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081130153725/http://www.spectator.org/archives/2004/05/20/switch-and-bait |archive-date=2008-11-30 }}</ref> Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Eddie Murphy and Angelina Jolie.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news | title = How we fell in love with 'insanity chic' | work = Telegraph | publisher = Telegraph Media Group Limited | date = February 26, 2004 | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/02/26/boins26.xml&site=6&page=0 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091225180313/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3612920/How-we-fell-in-love-with-insanity-chic.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = December 25, 2009 | access-date = }}</ref> The work discusses some of the more scandalous of these and other celebrities, as well as their effects on society.<ref>{{cite news | last = Jones | first = Allison | title = Books: Soured account of Hollywood's scandalous A-listers; Hollywood, Interrupted by Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner | work = The Birmingham Post | publisher = Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd | date = April 17, 2004 | url = | access-date = }}</ref> Ebner writes about a woman who was employed by AOL, used their database to acquire private information about Hollywood celebrities, and then utilized this illicit information to later create a career for herself in the entertainment industry.<ref>{{cite magazine | last = Jardin | first = Xeni | title = Hack Your Way to Hollywood | magazine = Wired | publisher = Condé Nast | date = April 29, 2004 | url = https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/04/63147 | access-date = }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first1 = Madeleine | last1 = Brand | first2 = Xeni | last2 = Jardin | title = Analysis: Former AOL employee uses company's database to access the accounts of celebrities, forms relationships with them, and sells the story of her life to Hollywood | work = NPR | date = May 5, 2004 | url = | access-date = }}</ref> Trey Parker, one of the creators of ''South Park'', is interviewed in the work, and was quoted commenting on the vices of individuals in the entertainment industry, such as prostitution and drug addiction.<ref>{{cite news | title = 'South Park' creators see through Isaac's haze | work = Los Angeles Daily News | date = March 21, 2006 | url = | access-date = }}</ref>
Part of the book is devoted to Crossroads School, a private high school in Santa Monica, California whose students largely come from families involved in the entertainment industry, and various scandals associated with the teenagers who attend that school.<ref>{{cite news | last = Digiacomo | first = Frank | title = School for Cool; A formerly gritty alternative school founded in 1971, Crossroads has become the elite, anti-prep mecca for entertainment-industry offspring. | work = Vanity Fair | publisher = Condé Nast | date = March 1, 2005 | url = | access-date = }}</ref>
The book also includes an analysis of the Church of Scientology and its effects on the culture in Hollywood,<ref name="walker" /> and has a chapter on Tom Cruise and John Travolta's relationship to Scientology.<ref name="irish">{{cite news | title = Thrills, spills, perverts 'n' pills: catching Hollywood in the act | work = Irish Independent | date = May 8, 2004 | url = http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/thrills-spills-perverts-n-pills-catching-hollywood-in-the-act-170853.html | access-date = }}</ref>
== Reception == ''Hollywood Interrupted'' is a ''New York Times'' and ''Los Angeles Times'' bestseller.<ref>{{cite news | last = Jean Lopez | first = Kathryn | title = The Heart of the Blues | work = National Review Online | publisher = Jack Fowler | date = January 14, 2005 | url = http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/qa200501141052.asp | access-date = | quote = With co-author Mark Ebner, he recently told some tales out of town on how the Hollywood set lives, what they think, and what they think about the rest of us; it is all in their book Hollywood Interrupted. The book hit the New York and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists and will be released in paperback next month. }}</ref> The book received a positive review in Britain's ''Telegraph'', in an article entitled: "How we fell in love with 'insanity chic'".<ref name="telegraph" /> ''CNET News'' characterized the work as "... a humorous nonfiction account on runaway depravity in the entertainment industry."<ref>{{cite news | last = Sandoval | first = Greg | title = Breitbart.com has Drudge to thank for its success | publisher = CNET News | date = November 30, 2005 | url = http://news.cnet.com/Breitbart.com+has+Drudge+to+thank+for+his+success/2100-1025_3-5976096.html | access-date = }}</ref>
An article in the ''Irish Independent'' was less positive.<ref name="irish" /> The article stated that though the book was witty and showed that the authors understood the material they were writing about, there was also a sense that they left out evidence in certain parts.<ref name="irish" /> A review in ''The Wall Street Journal'' stated that the work was: "... a terrific book, both snappy and snappish", however the reviewer went on to note that the work went into exhaustive detail to get across the point that: "People in Hollywood are nuts."<ref>{{cite news | last = Long | first = Rob | title = Books: The Perfect Oscar-Night Side Dish | work = The Wall Street Journal | publisher = Dow Jones & Company | date = February 26, 2004 | url = | access-date = }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== ;Official sites * [http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com www.hollywoodinterrupted.com] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090705051111/http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471450510.html Publisher's Site on book], at John Wiley & Sons, publishing
;Media * [http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/qa200501141052.asp Interview], with Andrew Breitbart about the book, ''National Review'', January 14, 2005.
{{Andrew Breitbart}} {{Authority control}}
Category:2004 non-fiction books Category:Books critical of Scientology Category:Popular culture books Category:Collaborative non-fiction books Category:English-language non-fiction books