A Review of "House of Hilton" by Jerry Oppenheimer

Author Jerry Oppenheimer is known for his scandalous tell-all books. From his unauthorized Martha Stewart biography called "Just Desserts" to his take on a presidential marriage inn "State of the Union: Inside the Complex Marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton", Oppenheimer is a master at researching and finding enough disgruntled people to give up the dirt. So when it was time to release a tabloidy tell-all book about the famous Hilton clan, Oppenheimer gave it his all.

The most famous Hilton, by far, is Paris Hilton. But Jerry Oppenheimer's book, "House of Hilton", talks surprisingly little about celebutante Paris Hilton and her sister Nicky. Instead, the book focuses on the maternal and paternal family heritage, supposedly to explain why Paris and Nicky ended up being famous for no apparent reason. The book, which is divided into two parts, focuses mostly on Paris Hilton's grandparents on each side of her family tree.

The maternal side of the book has its share of scandalous family tidbits, although the key players aren't all that well known. Kathy Hilton (the former Kathy Avanzino Richards) is the mother of Paris Hilton. According to the story, she was conceived in the back of a Chevy, resulting in a short-lived shotgun wedding between her mother and dad, Larry Avanzino. Little Kathy married well, wedding rich boy Rick Hilton in 1979. But it was no CInderella story, at least not according to this book.

As a young girl, Kathy Hilton dabbled in modeling and acting. Her mother, dubbed Big Kathy, insisted on it. Big Kathy had two more daughters, Kim and Kyle, with her second husband, Ken Richards. Both Kim and Kyle Richards were hugely successful child actors, appearing in 1970's Disney movies and TV series like "Nanny and the Professor" (Kim) and "Little House on the Prairie" (Kyle). Poor Kathy never measured up to her sister's success, so she fell back on her mama's supposed advice: Marry rich.