Rating: 
Summary: Brag Fest - Don't waste your time...
Review: ... I was hoping for some good reading from this fairly personable, talkative guy. After reading his book I must say my impression of him has changed completely. He spends every chapter talking about himself and not really contributing any gossip at all. I mean, who doesn't know Mickey Rourke is a mess? AJ is merely massaging his own ego, endlessly bragging about his sexual conquests, and his limited friendships with has-been stars. To add insult to injury, he's trying hard to come across as a macho man. Well, he fails miserably. Real men don't kiss and tell. I was hoping this book would be a lot more entertaining, but it's merely a vehicle for the author to brag, brag brag about himself the silly way teenage boys do. What a disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Average at best&that's a Compliment
Review: A.J. Benza is like a Fast Food Place that says 98.9 percent fat free&Grease.but you still have that 1.1 Percent Grease&Chunk in there well that is Benza.He offers nothing new but a Generic Substitute to what He already is Offering.His E Reporting&Side Gig is far better than a Book on Him.He is a trip but nothing more.
Rating: 
Summary: Celebrity gossip mixed with a look at working in a newsroom
Review: Currently the host of E's "Mysteries & Scandals," A. J. Benza is a reformed gossip columnist. Okay, not really. Benza thoroughly enjoys meeting all these rich and powerful people, but that is still nothing compared to the rush he gets telling us all about it. Ironically, the best stories in this book are not about the celebrities or the sex or the fighting with the people he meets, but those that talk about life back in the newsroom. Those stories were both interesting and actually funny, while the rest tend to get a bit gratuitous and a few are patently offensive. The writing is somewhat problematic and you will end up trying to decide whether this book has more proofreading errors or overused clichés as you read through it on a nice, warm, summer day (my money is on the latter). By the end of "Fame: Ain't It A Bitch?" you will more than realize that Benza liked meeting all of these people, because he tells you that over and over again, but you will be hard pressed to believe that any of them really think they got anything out of knowing him. Still, I have to admit, this book is a rare example of a trashy non-fiction novel than you can read on a summer day at the beach.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious Reading
Review: Having liked Benza's style on "Mysteries & Scandals" I picked up his book, and could not wait to finish it, and throw it away. Now, I'm not a sensitive soul, but it seems like every fourth word is "F-this" and "F-that. But more about that later."
He is very frank and honest about how much of a no-talent person he really is, and goes to show that by his being in the right place, and at the right time, kissing the right behinds, and having ONE person in the "inside" pushing for you, anyone can be a famous TV Celebrity. And it's okay if you get fired, because once you are "famous", there's always another job lined up. Just ask Danny Bonaducci.
Rating:
Summary: Ego trip
Review: I bought this book because I thought AJ was interesting the first time I saw him on Howard Sterns E show. Since then AJ has been on Howard a lot and is really repetitive. He's gotten laid a little bit, he has hung around celebritys here and there. Who cares. The book is just AJ feeding his ego. AJ is a sick guy. He is going through his mid life crisis and really wants desperetely to be famous. He tells boring stories about how great he is "Look at me, look who I'm friends with" "Look who I slept with", ect. ect. I expected a lot more outta this book. I did however read it from cover to cover but then I threw it in the trash which I rarely do with a book. I had a couple of friends who were mildly interested in it but I told them I would be wasting there time by giving it to them. Don't buy this book, it is horriable. AJ is a nerd with an inferiority complex who has built up a self worth larger then New York City. Don't buy this book and hopefully he will go away and be by himself.
Rating:
Summary: Brag Fest - Don't waste your time...
Review: I bought this book on a reduced for quick sale table for 99 cents. Hard to believe, but I think I overpaid. AJ Benza is a good example of the modern celebrity who is famous without having a talent. For awhile, he filled a niche in the gossip world as the macho gossip columnist. But he had bigger aspirations and left gossip behind and apparently the Peter Principle caught up with him (see my last paragraph). In AJ's world, image is everything. He acts like a gangster cause he thinks it makes him look cool. He dates super models cause he thinks it makes him look cool. He hangs out at hasbeen producer Robert Evans' house because he thinks it makes him look cool. He even sees being punched out by Chuck Zito as some kind of honor. In the book, AJ also recalls an incident in Paris where he found someone else's credit card and tried to use it in a restaurant after running up a bill of several hundred dollars. That he sees nothing wrong with this says a lot about his complete lack of morality. Since the book's publishing, AJ had his ultra-boring talk show AJ After Dark on the E! Network canceled after just a couple of episodes. He was also kicked off the Howard Stern radio show for suckerpunching Stuttering John. Not sure what AJ is doing now, but it probably involves receiving food stamps (and from the enclosed photos I would gather that it doesn't involve washing his hair).
Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: I bought this book on a reduced for quick sale table for 99 cents. Hard to believe, but I think I overpaid. AJ Benza is a good example of the modern celebrity who is famous without having a talent. For awhile, he filled a niche in the gossip world as the macho gossip columnist. But he had bigger aspirations and left gossip behind and apparently the Peter Principle caught up with him (see my last paragraph). In AJ's world, image is everything. He acts like a gangster cause he thinks it makes him look cool. He dates super models cause he thinks it makes him look cool. He hangs out at hasbeen producer Robert Evans' house because he thinks it makes him look cool. He even sees being punched out by Chuck Zito as some kind of honor. In the book, AJ also recalls an incident in Paris where he found someone else's credit card and tried to use it in a restaurant after running up a bill of several hundred dollars. That he sees nothing wrong with this says a lot about his complete lack of morality. Since the book's publishing, AJ had his ultra-boring talk show AJ After Dark on the E! Network canceled after just a couple of episodes. He was also kicked off the Howard Stern radio show for suckerpunching Stuttering John. Not sure what AJ is doing now, but it probably involves receiving food stamps (and from the enclosed photos I would gather that it doesn't involve washing his hair).
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of My Time
Review: I read this book because I liked his show on E!Mysteries
& Scandals. I have never a read a book with so much
ego in it. I really did not care how many women he slept
with or the stars he hung out with. Please, his little
story about John Kennedy Jr. was such a joke. John has
more class than to hang with Benza. I got tired of his
"more on this later" you would forget what later was.
And every other word was f***ing this or that. He is a
wanna be mafia guy, only problem is he would be not make
it in that world. His 15 min. of fame are over. No wonder
he got kicked off Howard Stern, he is a jerk. All the pics
in the book are of him looking "tough". Sorry, AJ but you
are all talk. Get a real job. I read the book to the end
only because I was laughing so hard. Now the pages line
my cats litter box. Lets hope for our sake he never writes
a book again. Hey, AJ, can I can get my money back!
Rating:
Summary: Good Book with a Major Flaw
Review: The book is a fun, interesting read. However, at the end of almost EVERY chapter, A.J. writes, "but more on that story later". This gets to be very annoying after a while. Chuck Zito should be ashamed of himself. If your going to hit someone, have the guts to do it when the person is not looking away, Tough Guy! This book would be great on audio.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book with a Major Flaw
Review: The book is a fun, interesting read. However, at the end of almost EVERY chapter, A.J. writes, "but more on that story later". This gets to be very annoying after a while. Chuck Zito should be ashamed of himself. If your going to hit someone, have the guts to do it when the person is not looking away, Tough Guy! This book would be great on audio.
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