Nigel Dempster and the Death of Discretion

(Hardback)

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Description

No one is more responsible for Britain's current obsession with celebrity culture than the late, great gossip columnist Nigel Dempster (1941-2007). For a quarter of a century, as the editor of the Daily Mail's diary, he was the man perfectly placed and qualified to record - and accelerate - the end of the age of deference...

Reviews

I'm really jealous of this; Dempsters world is such a juicy subject and Tim Willis has caught it completely.'
A gorgeous account of the sentimental sadist, seasoned with scandal and nostalgia'
Witty, scandalous and horribly riveting'. * The Sunday Times *
This lively, well-written biography is studded with the sort of anecdotes Dempster would have relished... (But) is is more than a portrait of a man; it is a portrait of a pre-Twitter age. Dempster prefigured our celebrity culture and in the end was submerged by it...' * The Evening Standard *
This alluring biography chronicles the extraordinary changes British society has undergone in the past few decades and accurately defines the columnist s own part in that seismic shift. It s a dazzling read, a helter-skelter ride through High Society and Fleet Street...' * The Sunday Express *
Not just a fine portrait of a diarist, Tim Willis has anatomised a society in flux' * The Lady *
A must for anyone interested in showbusiness and how it is reported * News of The World *
Effervescent, elegantly written and faultlessly researched... Tim Willis has caught the atmosphere of the Dempster decades with uncanny precision. Willis's book treats the many facets of Dempster, his braggadocio and his bonking, his swagger, his guile and his generosity with frankness and in fascinating detail.' * The Spectator *

Author Bio

A freelance writer and editor, Tim Willis has worked for most of Britain's national newspapers and some of its glossier magazines. He is also the author of Madcap (Short Books, 2002), a well-received biography of Pink Floyd's 'crazy diamond' Syd Barrett. Tim lives in Pershore, Worcestershire.