TVSquad

Pretty soon, you'll be seeing the kids from MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real O.C. all over the place. Six of them (Alex Murrel, Jason Wahler, Lauren Conrad, Stephan Colletti, Kristin Cavallari and Tallan Torriero) are part of a new advertising campaign by BONGO clothing that launches in fashion, entertainment and lifestyle magazines this Spring. The concept behind the campaign is a party. BONGO rented out a ritzy mansion in Orange County and let the kids do their thing as the band, The Colour, played on set. Alex Murrel, who has an album coming out this spring (who doesn't?), joined the band while the boys pushed each other into the pool, proving that they are barely out of high school. The Laguna clan replaces an ad campaign last year by BONGO that featured Nicole Richie and her ex-fiance, DJ AM.

Nicole Richie has a book. Did you know that? It's called The Truth About Diamonds. It's being sold as a fictional novel written by Richie, but apparently the storylines are pretty transparent. For example, the main character, "Chloe," has a drug addition, much like Richie once did. And, her wealthy girlfriend named "Simone", who appears in "night vision skin flicks", is obviously Paris Hilton. I did not read the book because it costs more than one dollar, but I did read a hilarious recap of the book on Slate. The author makes fun of Richie's grammar, including this triple-negative: "we were nothing if not un-original." And of her contradictions about the character's dismissal of celebrity gossipers, yet tabloid press is what pushes the plot along. The reviewer says there is not much to be learned from the book, except Richie's dependency on the paparazzi. She appears just as obsessed with the tabloids as the rest of America, and her character obviously courts the gossip reporters in the book. If nothing else, the reviewer says, the book exposes how celebrities (at least, celebrities of Paris and Nicole's stature) need the tabloids.

After you're done reading the Slate review, head on over to Amazon to read the customer comments. There are already 33 reviews, and it appears a war is a-brewing over the literary quality of The Truth About Diamonds.