Book Review: Flirting with Fame by Dan Harary

About:

Flirting with Fame: A Hollywood Publicist Recalls 50 Years of Celebrity Close Encounters by Dan Harary is a memoir by the author of his 50 years working in public relations in the entertainment industry. Mr. Harary, a New Jersey native, is the founder of The Asbury PR Agency in California.

• 284 pages
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ BearManor Media
  
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1629339598

My rating for Flirting with Fame – 3
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Thoughts:

The author certainly had an interesting career, which he is rightly very proud of. He had many encounters with famous actors, musicians, models, and other celebrities which he writes about in this book.

Some of these encounters are very interesting, however, most of them are just incidental anecdotes, for example, seeing someone on the street, or the supermarket, or saying “hi” at an industry event. If you live in New York City or Los Angeles it’s nothing special. If a handshake and a few words are counted, I met many celebrities, actors, artists, and musicians as well.
I could probably think of at least 100 off the top of my head, and I’m not in the entertainment industry, nor have I ever lived in NYC or LA.
However, when he writes of actual encounters, such as the one with Dr. Ruth, the book shines.

The most interesting part of Flirting with Fame by Dan Harary is the behind-the-scenes look at public relations. He worked very hard, made great contacts, and figured out his own path in life. Reading about how the business changed over decades was fascinating as well, and I wish the author would have spent more time on this subject instead of dropping names left and right of people he briefly met.
Briefly!!!!

At times, the author seems apologetic about his encounters with those who were later accused of sexual harassment and goes out of his to mention, every time, that it was “before the allegations”. As a born cynic, I find it difficult to believe that all of Hollywood didn’t know these type of abuses were happening.

Strangely, he goes and writes about “hot” girls with perfect bodies in the Playboy mansion, or models he dated, or his excitement meeting teenage crushes, or how the breasts of a certain actress felt when she hugged him. I found that hypocritical, and I’ve no idea why a professional in any industry would put these stories in writing, these are the type of anecdotes teenage boys brag about in the locker room.
Unless you work in an industry where it’s an acceptable practice.

However, I can’t blame him for bragging about hanging out with Hef in the Playboy mansion.
I mean, who wouldn’t?

Buy Flirting with Fame from Amazon.com*
More Books by Dan Harary*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book from the local Little Free Library.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books