Notable
Gobs of gossip
Washington socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth said, "If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me." Three new books in that gossipy spirit:
Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars (Grove) by Scotty Bowers pulls a whole passel of show biz notables out of the closet in a memoir by a former Marine who apparently slept with half of classic Hollywood and hooked up the other half.
Once Upon a Secret: My Affair With President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath (Random House) by Mimi Alford is an explicit tell-all by a former White House intern, now 69, about her affair with JFK.
That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor (St. Martin's) by Anne Sebba draws upon Simpson's letters for a new look at the intriguing life of the woman for whom Edward VIII gave up his throne.
Colette Bancroft, Times book editor