TVSquad

Every Top Gear fan remembers the little excursion that Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond took through the southeastern corridor and the very warm reception they received in rural Alabama.

For those of you who haven't seen that episode or still can't grasp the concept of sarcasm, you can watch the whole thing here. The long and the short of it is the challenge ended at a backwoods gas station where a group of nearby hillbillies attacked their cars and the crew's vans with rocks, sticks and just about anything their beer stained hands could grab without the need of an opposable thumb.

Hammond wrote in his new memoir Or Is That Just Me? that fans constantly ask him if those rednecks were the genuine article or "just made up for the telly." Hammond not only insisted in an excerpt from the book printed in The Times that they were real people, but they also gave him one of the biggest scares of his life.

You probably haven't given a second thought as to who Top Chef Masters judge Gael Greene has slept with (why would you?), but you're about to find out. Greene describes it all in her 2006 memoir Insatiable.

She has always seemed like an interesting character to me, one of the judges on that show (or the original) that seems to have an intriguing, wild background. And in the book she describes the various famous men she has slept with, and that list includes Elvis (Presley, not Costello), Burt (Reynolds, not Ward), and Clint (Eastwood, not Black).

Here's an excerpt from Greene's book.

[via Pop Candy]

Paul Shaffer, Late Show band leader, is writing a memoir about his show business career. The book will be out sometime in 2009.

Youngsters recognize Paul as David Letterman's band leader and occasional comic foil, but he actual started as the musical director on Saturday Night Live in the late '70s, appearing in pretty much any sketch that involved muscians, most notably Bill Murray's lounge singer bits.

Shaffer also starred in the short-lived sitcom A Year at the Top, about two musicians from Idaho who travel to Hollywood and are tempted by the devil's son to sell their souls for fame. This should not be confused with Top of the Heap, which was a Married with Children spin-off starring Matt LeBlanc. Also, don't confuse it with Top Cat, that's a Hanna Barbera cartoon.

Valerie Bertinelli, who many remember as Barbara Cooper on One Day at a Time, is publishing her first book, a memoir titled Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time. The book will focus on Bertinelli's life as a young TV star, and her battles with weight gain and depression.

Bertinelli also appeared on Touched by an Angel and is currently a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.

Honestly, I think she looks a lot better with a little extra weight. Not that my five year old self didn't pine for the younger, skinnier Bertinelli when she was on One Day at a Time, but I don't likes m' ladies to be all skin and bones, you know? Of course you do.

A few months ago, I mentioned that ABC's Bob Woodruff, who was injured in Iraq last January, will be making a special for the network about his recovery. Well, the AP is reporting that an air date for the special has been set: tentatively titled To Iraq and Back: Bob Woodruff Reports, it will air on February 27.

In the special, Woodruff will not only talk about his long recovery process from his injuries, but he'll also speak to the medical personnel that helped him, as well as eyewitnesses to the roadside bomb attack. He'll also profile military rescue teams that work to get injured soldiers out of harm's way and to various field hospitals.

As was also announced this past fall, Woodruff and his wife Lee will also write a memoir on his recovery, to be published by Random House.

The always informative Muppet News Flash has the scoop on two new Muppet-related books, both slated for release in September. The first is an inspirational book by Muppeteer Kevin Clash, best known as the puppeteer and voice behind Elmo. Clash was also the voice of the Baby on the series Dinosaurs and also played Splinter in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie franchise. The book is titled My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud. The other book, written by Kermit the Frog himself, will focus on what he's learned throughout his illustrious career in show business. Kermit's book, A Frog's Life: Where I've Been and the Lessons I've Learned, will be out on September 30. Clash's book comes out September 5.

Jack Osbourne, son of Ozzy and "star" of the reality series "The Osbournes," is apparently writing his autobiography, titled 21 Years Gone and set to be released by Pan MacMillan. The book will obviously touch on Jack's problems with drugs, his stint in rehab, and what it was like growing up with his famous father. While I suppose it's easy to laugh at the idea, given that Jack has been in the spotlight without having done much, my only minor complaint is that it's too soon. Given a few more years, the sort of people who read celeb bios might actually enjoy hearing what it was like growing up as Ozzy's son. Right now, though, I'm not sure people are clamoring for such a book.

[via Best Week Ever]

After Oprah tore James Frey apart on her show last week, I was left to wonder what would be next for the author.

I should've known.

A Manhattan social worker was the first to file a lawsuit against Random House, the publisher of Frey's fictitious memoir about overcoming drug and alcohol addiction. The plaintiff, Jennifer Cohn, said she recommended Frey's book to a number of clients who were struggling with the same addiction. Another New York reader filed a class action lawsuit, asking for her $14.95 back. There are also lawsuits in state and federal courts in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

So...what's worse? Ripping apart the author on nationwide television or suing an author because his memoir is packed with lies?

While we've received dozens of comments about yesterday's Oprah-James Frey show, Oprah has received tens of thousands of comments. The message board on her website lists more than 12,000 comments for the Frey show. In comparison, other shows only garnered several hundred comments. The commenters go from bashing Oprah, to supporting Frey, to discussing the definition of a memoir. A lot of people on Oprah's site and on our site think that she was too harsh on Frey, that it doesn't matter if he lied because it's still a good book, and mostly that she crucified him on national television for personal gain.

Does anybody out there support what Oprah did? I mean, other than me and Joel and Maureen Dowd.

[Thanks for the tip, Debbie!]

It looks as though Oprah Winfrey has been browsing the nonfiction aisles of the bookstore. While the authenticity of her last Oprah's Book Club selection is still in question, she has moved on to assign her faithful readers another memoir: Night, by Elie Wiesel. You may recognize his name for the Nobel Peace Prize he won in 1986 for decades of writing against hatred and racism. Wiesel's first novel (he calls it a memoir) chronicles his family's experience in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Oprah said the book "should be required reading for all of humanity." Next month, Oprah will also hold a high school essay contest about the book, in which 50 selected writers will be flown to Chicago to be part of the audience when Wiesel is a guest. She will also visit Auschwitz with Wiesel, which should make for one very powerful hour of television.

If you purchased a copy of James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces and were devastated to find out he made a lot of it up, torn asunder by the audacity of this so-called author, bolting upright in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and punching the walls screaming, "Why, Jimmy, why?" over and over again while angrily gnawing at your own feet because the pain is the only way you know how to cope with what he's done... then you've overreacted just a tad. Still, there was a small glimmer of hope. Reuters and others reported that Random House was offering refunds to anyone who purchased the book through them, but that rumor was put to rest with this statement on Random House's Web site. If you want to return your book, you'll have to take it back to the bookstore like everyone else.