Sinsational Celebrity Tales

The Outpost ~ by Les Gapay
It’s Vegas, baby!
There’s something about the town. The feel, the buzz, the energy, the celebrities, the shows, the people watching, the buffets, the slots, the volcano at the Mirage, the lions at MGM Grand, the shark tank at Mandalay Bay, the fountains at the Bellagio, the Elvis impersonators and the Liberace museum …
Every day, to find out what’s going on in town I check out Norm Clarke’s Vegas Confidential column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It gives the latest buzz and gossip about celebrities from Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to Pete Rose and Charles Barkley, where to go to eat, what shows are hot and even breaking news about Sin City …
I found it’s best to find out about goings on about town by reading Norm’s column and now his latest book, the light-hearted Vegas Confidential: Sinsational Celebrity Tales, published by Stephens Press.
Norm has the credentials for the book and column. Alan Feldman, head public relations executive for MGM Mirage, says: “Norm’s is the must-read column every morning.”
In a town overflowing with buzz every day, Norm has great access and owns the inside track on what makes the town tick.

Read more here.

The venerable Tattered Cover in Denver (one of the finest indie bookstores in America) recently hosted a signing for our own Norm Clarke and his newest title, Sinsational Celebrity Tales. Authors on Tour recorded his comments and you can listen to him HERE. Norm shares the background on his biggest stories including crashing the Review-Journal servers on the $200 steaks in Vegas story; Britney’s wedding/annulment dinner at N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms, and the infamous bitch-slap from Pete Rose objecting to Norm adding him to the top ten worst tippers list in his first book. A fun look at the world of celebrity gossip from the inside — and according to Norm, the celebs never fail to deliver story leads, day after day in Sin City.

Mark Wolf of the Rocky Mountain News and his readers interviewed Norm this morning “live”. Here’s a transcript  link with some interesting tidbits of “dish” for lovers of all things “sinsational”.

Which celebrities get the perks in Las Vegas? And which ones demand them? Who are the cheapest celebs and the most generous? Who are the best and worst tippers? And who is likely to have a public meltdown whenever they venture out?

Norm Clarke, a former columnist at the Rocky, reports on the Vegas celebrity culture for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. When celebs behave badly, Norm gets the scoop.

Norm chatted online Monday and shared the Barack Obama/Las Vegas connection. Read the transcript here.

He will discuss and sign copies of Sinsational Celebrity Tales at 7:30 p.m. at Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street at Wynkoop.

From USA Today December 19, 2008:

For nearly a decade, Norm Clarke has tracked VIP high jinks for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His new Norm Clarke’s Vegas Confidential: Sinsational Celebrity Tales (Stephens Press, $15.95) chronicles star turns that happened in Vegas, but didn’t stay there. He shares some with USA TODAY’s Kitty Bean Yancey.

Show-pals: Donny Osmond matches eyepatches with Norm Clarke. Clarke has worn one since a childhood injury. By Duane Prokop, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Q: Your book talks about Jennifer Aniston getting onstage at the Forty Deuce club to dance for Vince Vaughn, Britney Spears having to be helped out of Pure nightclub a couple of New Year’s Eves ago, the late Anna Nicole Smith coming on to Chippendales dancers. Celebs can play in L.A., too, so why do they go wild here?

A: It’s one-stop shopping. You can go from gambling to fine dining to clubs, even in one (casino resort). Celebs come to Vegas and have three shots of Cuervo and think they’re invisible.

Read entire article . . .