Latest ‘Real World’ book turns only die stomach
■The newest book focuses on
behind-the-scenes liaisons,
crushes and badmouthing
Alison Pdllet
‘The Real World X:
Back to New York’
By Erin Cooney
for the Emerald
Ever wonder what Lori’s favorite
dance move is? Curious about
Nicole’s favorite candy? Dying to
know Kevin’s favorite hairstyle?
Well, these and many more equally
deep questions can be answered in
Alison Pollet’s new book “The Real
World X: Back to New York.”
Pollet has authored several be
hind-the-scenes books for MTV, in
cluding MTV’s “The Real World
New Orleans — Unmasked” and
“Real World Hawaii: True Confes
sions.” If the titles sound like smut
ty romance novels, that’s a fairly ac
curate description. Whatever talent
Pollet may have as a writer, it isn’t
exhibited in this book.
“The Real World X” begins with
biographies of each of the seven
cast members, explaining very im
portant details of their day-to-day
lives on the show. The biography
on Lori contains useful details
about her “Real World” experience.
“My hair started thinning. I don’t
know if it was a reaction to the
stress or what. I already have really
thin hair, and my scalp just shines
through,” she said.
The next page has all the other
roommates describing their feelings
about Lori. To her credit, she seems
to have made the fewest enemies in
the house. Pages 34-35 show how
the cast felt about their controver
sial roommate Nicole:
“She holds grudges,” Lori said.
“I’m scared that once she sees the
show, she’ll hate me,” Rachel said.
“She’s antisocial,” Mike said.
Not to pick on just one castmate
— the entire book has the “seven
strangers picked to live in a house”
bashing each other. And when
they’re not bashing each other,
they bash anyone else who comes
into the house.
There are at least six full pages
dedicated to Jisela, a cast member
on “Road Rules,” the sister show
to “The Real World.” Now, this girl
isn’t even a roommate in the New
York house, yet she seems to be a
focus in this book, and I’ll tell you
why: The girl is drama with a capi
tal “D.” MTV’s “Real World” Web
site calls Jisela “a one-woman
‘Girls Gone Wild’ video” — and
that’s the truth.
That appears to be the point of
this book, though — to reveal be
hind-the-scenes drama, as if there
wasn’t enough shown in the
episodes. Pollet goes on for pages
about who slept with whom, who
had crushes on whom and who
badmouthed whom.
But who cares? A longtime fan
of the show myself, I can honestly
say a book like this makes me nev
er want to watch it again. It is full
of so much useless, uninteresting
information, I was sick of it before
I hit Page 10.
Listen to Chris Kula, the Daily
Arts Editor for the Michigan Daily
News, writing last year about “The
Real World New Orleans — Un
masked”:
“I kept waiting to be swept up in
a storm of fire and brimstone, be
cause if this book exists, surely the
apocalypse is upon us.”
As big a fan of this show as I have
considered myself to be, I certainly
concur.
Erin Cooney is a freelance reporter for
the Oregon Daily Emerald.
World Trade Center remains country’s newest tourist attraction
By David Jackson
The Dallas Morning News
NEW YORK (KRT) — New York
City’s newest tourist attraction is not
a sports stadium or an art museum.
It is a demolition site and a grave
yard, the remains of the World
Trade Center—a smoldering, dusty
monument to terrorist destruction.
To thousands of Americans, visit
ing the site of the former Twin Towers
has become a pilgrimage as they find
themselves drawn to ground zero.
“I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to the
ones who have given so much,” said
Carolyn Cox, part of a Big Apple
tour group from Richmond, Va.
“There’s a silence here, a respect.
“It’s sacred ground.”
Burton • Santa Cruz
• Ride • Rossignol •
YOUR SNOWBOARDING
HEADQUARTERS
l
CA/il Sicj.
lift & Lawrence • Eugene • 683-1300
www.bergsskishoR.mn
whenever weekend per month
minutes minutes.
1 year, contract
: ' No roaming and long
distance within united States
‘ Some.restrictions apply.
Subject to phone ava.iiaoiiity.
841 E.13th Ave.
COME IN AND
CALL YOUR
FRIENDS
199
fl+ Wireless
Cox pointed up to the street sign
at the corner of Washington and
Carlisle, where old newspapers re
main wedged.
“Look at those papers ... whose
life was that a part of?” she won
dered.
While some vendors in the area
try to cash in on the tragedy — sell
ing Twin Towers photos, patriotic
pins and FDNY and NYPD T-shirts
— most visitors go directly to barri
cades along Broadway to snap pic
tures of the wreckage.
The reverent, the history-minded
and the curious have all trekked
here. They have left behind flow
ers, shirts, caps, candles, teddy
bears, and written tributes to the
victims and survivors of Sept. 11.
As wrecking balls file down the
jagged remains of collapsed build
ings, some people pray while oth
ers snap pictures. Some talk of
what it must have been like when
the planes struck each tower. Oth
ers wonder if other attacks are part
of America’s permanent future.
“I think it’s the first time we’ve
realized that this can happen to us,
here in America,” said Jean Stanis
law, a businesswoman from Sun
Valley, Idaho. “It’s just something I
think everyone should see. We
have to be on guard, we have to
take our freedom more seriously.”
Thanksgiving brought thousands
of tourists who wanted to go to
ground zero. Lisa Dalton, who su
pervised a drill team from South
Garland High School that marched
in the Macy’s parade, called the ex
perience “very, very moving.”
“I just thought it was an impor
tant part of our history, as horrible
as it is,” Dalton said. “It was some
thing to show respect.”
Many want to leave something
behind. They include letters of trib
ute from Kingsport, Tenn., to Japan.
One typical sheet of paper reads,
“Wimberley, Texas, sends love,
prayers and hopes to all in New
York. You will not be forgotten.”
Many posters have a common
theme, the heart-shaped symbol of
love: Oregon Loves New York; Hoi
land Loves New York; California
University of Pennsylvania Loves
New York; God Loves New York.
Many expressed a personal con
nection to ground zero. They said that
while terrorists targeted the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon, the\
attacked the United States itself.
“It’s definitely the biggest thing that
happened to this country,” said Pru
Chapman, who works at a homeless
shelter in Boston. “It’s affected not
only our military but so many civil
ians. It’s affected people all over the
country, from New York to California. ’
© 2001, The Dallas Morning News.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
Learn something that you will use
EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
In school, at work, or in your personal relationships,
communication skills are critical to success.
013046
BA 199 - Interpersonal and Team Communication
Two Sections Available: Tuesday / Thursday
10:00 - 11:50 (CRN 24739)
12:00 - 13:50 (CRN 24740)
Limited Enrollment - Sign Up Today.
For more information,
contact Professor Marian Friestad
msf@lcbmail.uoregon.edu