Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell
Tom Bower
Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell
Sweet Revenge offers a detailed insider's account of entertainment mogul Simon Cowell's rise to meteoric fame and all of the controversial highs and lows along the way as he settles scores with rivals.
2.0 out of 5 based on 5 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Biography, Music, Stage & Screen |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
432 |
| RRP |
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| Date of Publication |
April 2012 |
| ISBN |
978-0571278350 |
| Publisher |
Faber & Faber |
| |
Reviews
The Daily Express
Clair Woodward
“Bower looks into Cowell’s Midas touch in forensic detail with every cough and spit of business dealings in the UK and the US. Fans of business analysis and X Factor nuts will find this fascinating. I found it all a bit tedious and it paled in comparison with the psychological study that is Cowell ... The Dannii Minogue affair, the various other women he had a “K&C” (kiss and cuddle) with, the shyness in public and the occasional glimpse of self-doubt are far more interesting insights into the boy whose childhood nickname was, “Mummy, look at me”.”
22/04/2012
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The Guardian
Marina Hyde
“Of particular amusement are peripheral characters such as his relatively new friend Philip Green, the Topshop boss who, for all his billions, is clearly a starstrucker who realises that retail is showbiz for people too ugly even for politics ... As for Cowell's own motivations, the revenge narrative that so dominates the book is not wholly convincing. At his last American Idol wrap party, an anonymous "curious bystander" overhears Cowell spelling it out to Fuller with sledgehammer simplicity: "All I've done — Britain's Got Talent, The X Factor and much more — is revenge for what you did to me. And there's much more to come."”
28/04/2012
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The Sunday Times
Lynn Barber
“How do you expose a man who exposes so much of himself? ... Bower has not produced any really damaging revelations — the news that Cowell uses colonic irrigation, or had an affair with Dannii Minogue, is hardly earth-shattering. Where we might have expected Bower to do some deeper digging is round the question of whether Cowell’s shows are in any way fixed.”
29/04/2012
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The Observer
Barbara Ellen
“Sadly, once "Nasty Simon" is ensconced as an international television judge-producer-mogul, the book becomes markedly less funny, and Cowell less endearing. It's not as if we don't know "The Simon Cowell Story" by now: Pop Idol. X Factor. Leona. Susan Boyle. Jedward. Britain's Got Talent. Conquering America. Getting even with Fuller for allegedly making off with the Idol format. Blah blah. Yak yak. Who cares? Like many people in long-running feuds, Cowell and Fuller appear to find each other endlessly fascinating in a way the rest of us don't – unless you're into what amounts to "iPhones at dawn"? The sense of ennui and déjà vu isn't helped by the fact that the half-decent showbiz gossip ("bonks" with Dannii Minogue; having a crush on Cheryl Cole) has already been splashed over the newspapers.”
06/05/2012
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The Spectator
Zenga Longmore
“Why would anyone want to buy this dreadful book? The frightful Simon Cowell appears to have co-operated with the author, and it is littered with repellent photographs — chiefly of a smirking Simon surrounded by beautiful ‘ex-girlfriends’. (Cowell is keen to inform us that he has had lots of girlfriends. He is not gay. Not. Gay.) Surely, if one wanted to read about Cowell and gaze at pictures of his over-indulged, hairy body, why not just browse the internet? The websites featuring comments such as, ‘Simon Cowl is reelly horibel and rood’ are far more amusing than Tom Bower’s repetitive biography. I would forgive the author if his book were entertaining, but it is not — it renders the reader exhausted yet fretful, a sensation similar to overdosing on double espressos.”
28/04/2012
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