2007-05-19 19:35:42 - Book by Globe freelancer among those covered in Southern Review of Books annual 'Salute to Hollywood- issue

ATLANTA, Ga. - May 16, 2007 - The annual Southern Review of Books newsletter's 'Salute to Hollywood- edition has been posted. The special issue, free to online visitors, covers more than a dozen books by or about prominent Hollywood figures, including Madonna, Alec Baldwin, Kirsten Dunst, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Kim Bassinger.
According to the Southern Review, Los

Angeles superagent Sharlene Martin may have temporarily lost the battle to publish a tell-all memoir by Madonna's nanny - Madonna got a restraining order in England to prevent publication in the UK - but she's placed another memoir with similar mass appeal.
The book is Marlise Elizabeth Kast's Tabloid Prodigy, released in May by Running Press. Among the prepublication stories the book generated was a spicy item in the New York Post describing an assignment editors at supermarket tabloid The Globe gave to freelance writer Kast. The editors asked her to check out their bizarre suspicions that longtime friends Tobey Maguire, star of "Spider-Man 3," purportedly the most expensive movie ever made , and Leonardo DiCaprio, star of "Blood Diamond," were lovers.
In her book, Kast details how she tracked down Maguire's mother Wendy, a secretary, and "told her that I was working on an article for a gay pride magazine about sexual expression among Hollywood stars. I asked her if she'd be willing to share any thoughts about her son's close bond with Leonardo."
Now, before you fall for that 'gay- line, be aware that both DiCaprio and Maguire have had their share of beautiful women. DiCaprio is currently dating Bar Refaeli of Israel, and had a long relationship with Gisele Bundchen. Maguire dated his "Spider-Man" co-star Kirsten Dunst, and has a son with girlfriend Jennifer Meyer. Both were also members, with David Blaine and Lukas Haas, of the "P---y Posse" that trawled Manhattan nightclubs for babes in the mid-1990s.
Wendy Maguire responded to Kast's pretexting by telling her, "I figured this subject would come up sooner or later' Those two are just free-spirited guys. Most of the friends they hang around with are gay. They're comfortable with that. But I think Leo and Tobey are the crossover between men and women. They have feminine traits they are willing to accept. They aren't ashamed to have any sort of title, even if that means someone calling them gay."
Kast goes on to say, "Wendy continued to recount her liberal views, divulging details of how the two friends 'shared a bed and wore ribbons in their hair.'-
While Kast wasn't about to claim the stars were gay, she provided what the editors wanted - insinuations. For supermarket tabloids, that's all that's needed for a garish headline that sells papers.
As for that unpublished memoir about life in Madonna's household by the former nanny, to get the dish on that, read about it in the Southern Review of Books.