Review by Sarah
May 2013 by It Books
288 pages
Amazon + Good Reads
4/5 stars
"Meet the Bling Ring: six club-hopping LA teenagers accused of stealing more than $3 million in clothing and jewelry from the likes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bilson and other young members of the Hollywood elite-allegedly the most audacious burglary gang in recent history.
Driven by celebrity worship, vanity, and the desire to look and dress like the rich and famous, the Bling Ring made headlines in 2009 for using readily available sources-like Google maps, Facebook and TMZ, to track the comings and goings of their targets. Seven teens were arrested for the crimes, and instantly became tabloid fodder. The world asked-how did the American obsession with celebrity get so out of hand? And why did a band of ostensibly privileged LA teens take such a risk?
Vanity Fair reporter Nancy Jo Sales found the answer: they did it because they could. And because it was just that easy.
Author of the acclaimed Vanity Fair story on the Bling Ring "The Suspect Wore Louboutins," Sales gained unprecedented access to the Hollywood thieves, and in the process uncovered a dark world of teenage arrogance, greed, obsession, and delusion. Now, for the first time in a full book length work, Sales details the Bling Ring crimes up close and in depth, and reveals the key players' stories in a shocking look at the seedy world of the real young Hollywood."
-Good Reads
As a journalist and pop-culture junkie (minus the Kardashians), I adore this book. It’s a wonderful story and piece of journalism. Seriously. I hope to one day have a chance to write something like this. Nancy Jo Sales is great at her craft and keeps her opinion out of her stories, something I occasionally struggle with.
Being obsessed with the Bling Ring in general, I couldn’t put this book down. It was awesome to delve into the minds of these criminals. As a society, we place a lot of value on consumerism and having the most, the best, the biggest everything. There’s also pressure from the media to look good. These kids let all of that go to their heads.
Sales did an amazing job of weaving her research into the story, as well. As I read about the burglary of Orlando Bloom, I also learned why people feel the need to steal. As I read interviews with the Ring members, I got to explore into America’s views on Hollywood.
This story is my ultimate dream to cover. Celebrities, criminals, theft, it’s a triple threat. For now, I’m happy I had the chance to read it. And see it. But, if you plan on seeing the movie, I would say see it before reading the book (the book is way better and sort of dulled-down the film for me).
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