The Books
Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood: Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire (Carroll & Graf, 2004)
is the scintillating tale of how super-agent Lew Wasserman, captain of MCA’s stable of stars and champion of Universal’s blockbusters, and his politically shrewd wife, Edie, created Hollywood as we know it today. It includes stories of actors Jimmy Stewart, Barbara Stanwyck, and John Belushi; directors Billy Wilder, George Lucas and Alfred Hitchcock; industry leaders Roy Brewer, Jim Petrillo and Jack Valenti; and the politicos within the Kennedy, Reagan and the Clinton families, all of whom played roles in elevating Hollywood’s first conglomerate, Universal Studios.
Reviewers’ praise:
“Dramatic and enthralling….Lavish and extravagant, gossipy, yet even-handed, maximizing a great story; Likely to become the standard text on the Wassermans.”
— Kirkus Review (starred)
“Entertaining…eye-opening…This isn’t just Lew Wasserman, the ‘king’ of Hollywood, but Edie, who mixed the drinks, gossiped with the stars and wives and was nothing less than vital.”
— David Thomson, author, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film
“A must-read, a real-life ‘Access Hollywood’…..a brilliant and gripping study of Hollywood’s charming and corrupt First Couple.”
— Clancy Sigal, film critic and author of Going Away
Purchase Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood
In Good Faith: The Inside Story of Prudential-Bache’s Multibillion-Dollar Scandal that Defrauded Thousands of Investors and Fractured the Rock (St. Martin’s Press, 1995).
How did the largest non-bank company in the world at the time — The Rock — defraud a million investors of some $2 billion? And why does this type of story keep recurring in America? This report on sex, drugs, stocks & bonds was used by lawyers in their efforts to retrieve funds for their clients and hit the shelves just as 60 Minutes aired part of the story.
Reviewers praise:
“The biggest — and sleaziest — scam of them all suggests you shouldn’t drop your guard… Sharp’s book also looks at….(why) eternal vigilance may also be the price of capitalism.”
— The New York Times Book Review
“This shocking expose is a complex tale of corporate greed…”
— Publishers Weekly
“Sharp’s book gives an overall view of the tragedy as it unfolds….chilling.”
— Wall Street Journal
Purchase In Good Faith
Stalking the Beast: How Hollywood Super-Sized King Kong (2006).
Here’s a quick primer on the history of Hollywood as seen through the lenses of the three seminal King Kong movies. Inspired by a piece Sharp wrote for Playboy, it incorporates interviews with actors Jeff Bridges and Naomi Watts, producers Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson, screenwriters Philippa Boyens and Lorenzo Semple, and, most poignantly, the last report given by the late Fay Wray.
Purchase Stalking the Beast
Anthologies:
True Thrills (Mira Books 2012). This will be the first collection of narrative non-fiction suspense and will include work by Ann Rule, Mark Bowden, Eileen Welsome, Douglas Preston, Stuart Woods and Sharp, among others.
Thrillers: 100 Must Reads (Oceanview Publishing) Hardcover July 2010. Contributing alongside such luminaries as David Morrell, Gayle Lynds, John Lescroart, Melodie Johnson-Howe and many others, Sharp wrote a piece on the manic work of Edgar Wallace.
Experiencing Race, Class, and Gender in the United States (Rider University, 2009) Edited by Roberta Fiske-Rusciano.
Sports in America: Opposing Viewpoints (Greenhaven Press, 1994), Edited by William Dudley.
