Rating: 
Summary: What a fun read!
Review: A great summer book! I was stuck in an airport for over five hours and Just Desserts kept me entertained the entire time. We always knew Martha wsn't a sweetheart, but wow, the things we didn't know. This book should be required reading for any woman who feels she is inadequate for not being able to do it all. Martha has created a group of women who think that if they can't find the time to paint their floors, hand stencil their walls and gild fruit, they are lesser mortals. Yippee, Martha's human after all. The book style can be rather breathy and sensationalistic at times, but it's really a fun (albeit mean-spirited) way to spend a few afternoons.
Rating: 
Summary: Juicy&full of tid-bits,debunking the myth of Martha Stewart
Review: A very well written book that I could just not put down. The author interviews people you never thought would agree to talk about the famous Martha Stewart. Her own relatives, siblings, business partners and friends tell her story. She is not the sweet person that she portrays for us on tv. Although she writes and talks about her past with vim & vigor, those experiences were not hers. She was poor all her life until she got married and became a stock broker. She got to where she is now by stomping on everyone who was trying to help her. A great book that debunks the myth of Martha. It's a Good Thing!
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Summary: FOR THOSE OF US WHO DESPISE MARTHA!
Review: ALTHOUGH THE TITLE IS VERY MISLEADING - I THOUGHT IT WAS A COOK BOOK - THIS IS A VERY DELIGHTFUL BOOK FOR THOSE OF US WHO DO NOT LIKE MARTHA AND ALL THAT SHE STANDS FOR. IT GIVES YOU INSIGHT INTO THE TYPE OF PERSON THAT SHE REALLY IS = WHICH IS A VERY UGLY, HATEFUL, MANIPULATIVE WOMAN. I APPLAUD THE AUTHOR. LA
Rating: 
Summary: It will change your view of Stuart.
Review: As you see, Stuart didn't write the book. This book is about the horrible things that Stuart did in life. It didn't mention one good thing she did in her lifetime. It makes Stuart look so mean and ugly. Because of what this author did, I now think that Staurt is a evil person. If you like Stuart and want to read this book, I strongly recommend the you don't. You will think she is an evil person after reading the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating look at one of America's pop culture icons
Review: Before the story broke about the insider trading scandal involving Martha Stewart, I did not have a good idea of who she was. I was curious to find out so I purchased "Just Desserts". The book did not seem to be a "hit piece", as others have portrayed this book. What I found was a writer who disected the image from the the real person. It is a very interesting study on Martha Stewart's troubled past regarding her domineering father and Martha's need to become rich and famous no matter what the cost and no matter who got in the way. I came away feeling very sorry for her. Whether you are a fan of her's or not, the book does a very good job of showing the fake from the real. The onscreen personae and her real actiions behind the scenes will shock and astound. The author also delves into the fantastic business savy that Stewart displayed throughout her career. She was very often underestimated, but always a step ahead of the competition. A real modern day Jeckyl and Hide story. Not only does the book describe the interesting antics and unreal behavior of Stewart, it also touches on the gullibility of the people who surrounded her and how they naively followed her every whim. It is an interesting study of how people will believe in the image of a person and cling onto it no matter what the true reality is. In the case of several people such as her former husband and several business associates, they finally saw past the facade and saw the real person behind the disguise. This is a tragic story but very revealing on what motivates some people towards ultimate fame and power.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at one of America's pop culture icons
Review: Before the story broke about the insider trading scandal involving Martha Stewart, I did not have a good idea of who she was. I was curious to find out so I purchased "Just Desserts". The book did not seem to be a "hit piece", as others have portrayed this book. What I found was a writer who disected the image from the the real person. It is a very interesting study on Martha Stewart's troubled past regarding her domineering father and Martha's need to become rich and famous no matter what the cost and no matter who got in the way. I came away feeling very sorry for her. Whether you are a fan of her's or not, the book does a very good job of showing the fake from the real. The onscreen personae and her real actiions behind the scenes will shock and astound. The author also delves into the fantastic business savy that Stewart displayed throughout her career. She was very often underestimated, but always a step ahead of the competition. A real modern day Jeckyl and Hide story. Not only does the book describe the interesting antics and unreal behavior of Stewart, it also touches on the gullibility of the people who surrounded her and how they naively followed her every whim. It is an interesting study of how people will believe in the image of a person and cling onto it no matter what the true reality is. In the case of several people such as her former husband and several business associates, they finally saw past the facade and saw the real person behind the disguise. This is a tragic story but very revealing on what motivates some people towards ultimate fame and power.
Rating:
Summary: Felt polluted while reading this trashy/gossipy mud-slinger
Review: but I could not put it down! I became a fan of M.S. late (I first became really aware of her from her Holiday special w/ Julia Child)so there was much about her earlier carrier I did not know. The book was helpful in informing me about her business history and other such details of her life. That is about the only positive thing I can say about this book. This thing seems to be such a deliberate smear campaign, I wonder how people can take it so seriously. From the first page, the author uses very slanted, deragatory prose when it is uncalled for.(in the first paragraph *in just one sentence* he refers to M.S. as raging, furious AND seething! In the next paragraph he chooses the sentence "[Andy]had fled the life they had carefully fabricated" when "carefully built" would have said the same thing, but in an even handed way. It is clear from the beginning of the book that Oppenheimer has no interest in being even handed. Yes, he exposes flaws in M.S.s personality, but who does not have flaws? Yes, he tells us she does not write her own books, or make every concoction on her show, but she does oversee most everything in detail, and everything does reflect her style. Honestly, how could the women bake each cookie that appears on the show AND run an empire! (I do think she COULD do everything that is presented on her show, in the books and magazines.) I always thought of M.S. as a sort of reference place, a collecter and presenter of a lot of good stuff on a wide variety of subjects, and the book has not changed my opinion of her or her magazine or show. I still like them. I am a little put off that the author seems to paint Andy as a victim/hero. He went along willingly for the ride, and if the author paints the picture correctly, then Andy really is no great person of integrity either. After all, he urged Martha to give up her faith before he would marry her, and later walked out on his daughter without so much as a "see ya later". I am not judging Andy, simply pointing out that there is more then one side to most stories. The last pages of the book were VERY interesting, and a little unsettling. The book did have a little negative effect on me. When watching her show, I am left wondering how she gets along with her guests, and things of that nature. Jerry paints her as mean and unkind. However, I have heard elsewhere that she is gracious and lovely. Final word: Powerful, independent women are sometimes made to be an unfair target. GIVE THE WOMEN A BREAK!
Rating:
Summary: Eat Your Vegetables First, You Can Learn Something From This
Review: Certainly one of the greatest uses of biography is to learn from someone else's mistakes. For that reason alone it's worth it to read Just Desserts. I have been in awe of the curious Martha Phenomenon since it first began many years ago. Martha could not have made her climb to the top had she not been pandering to a generation of women not unlike herself, women who were scarred by the aftermath of World War II. These women, bereft of family structure and traditional roots, were particularly vulnerable to Martha's opportunistic nature. As an astrologer, I understand many of the dynamics of Stewart's personality. That she fantasized her past was but an extension of her ability to turn common lead in to gold on a daily basis. The emergence of her dark side might be understood as the obsessive wrath and demonic unresolved self hatred of her father, whose aspirations she was doomed to pursue because he had not been able to. And more, Dear Reader. But buy the book and find out for yourself. Like another commentator before me on this website, I decided by page 38 that I was glad I was not Martha!
Rating:
Summary: Eat Your Vegetables First, You Can Learn Something From This
Review: Certainly one of the greatest uses of biography is to learn from someone else's mistakes. For that reason alone it's worth it to read Just Desserts. I have been in awe of the curious Martha Phenomenon since it first began many years ago. Martha could not have made her climb to the top had she not been pandering to a generation of women not unlike herself, women who were scarred by the aftermath of World War II. These women, bereft of family structure and traditional roots, were particularly vulnerable to Martha's opportunistic nature. As an astrologer, I understand many of the dynamics of Stewart's personality. That she fantasized her past was but an extension of her ability to turn common lead in to gold on a daily basis. The emergence of her dark side might be understood as the obsessive wrath and demonic unresolved self hatred of her father, whose aspirations she was doomed to pursue because he had not been able to. And more, Dear Reader. But buy the book and find out for yourself. Like another commentator before me on this website, I decided by page 38 that I was glad I was not Martha!
Rating:
Summary: Devilishly Entertaining Read!
Review: Even before this book came out, many of Martha Stewart's television viewers could tell there was more to the story than what she presented. With her well-modulated voice and deliberate moves, she seemed to be actively trying to control any outward display of emotion. And to watch her interact with other people was downright painful. This is a woman with no natural warmth, which would seem to be a prerequisite to appearing on national television. So it came as very little surprise to me that her family, friends, acquaintances and business associates jumped at the chance to trash her. She seems devoid of any semblance of compassion or fair play, and apparently never developed emotionally beyond the "Id" phase. From Oppenheimer's book, it seems apparent that she has become expert with things, rather than people, because things can be manipulated to suit her wishes. Hence, the beautiful houses (not homes), the exquisite (but not cozy) furnishings, and the pretty meals shared not with friends but with the camera. Oppenheimer has been criticized for writing a book that was not fair or balanced. I disagree. Anyone who buys this book is already familiar with Martha and her fairy-wonderland make-believe childhood. This book is simply an antidote to the Martha propaganda machine. I found the book to be well written, well documented, and fluid, and I couldn't recommend it highly enough to all the Martha wannabes out there. It might be dishy gossip, but it's GOOD dishy gossip!
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