In my first performing arts assigning (I recently adopted the section from Heather McCormack), the grand theme was pop celebs writing. Due out in May from three big publishers, we have Don’t Hassel the Hoff, David Hasselhoff’s autobiography from Thomas Dunne, Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock ‘n’ Roller’s 12 Steps to Becoming a Gold Addict from Crown, and Criss Angel’s Mindfreak coming from HarperCollins, complete with “40 mindfreaks you can master.”

 This odd little group, linked primarily by the similar chuckle they brought forth as I flipped through them (after all, they feature two TV stars and one musician; cover sports, magic, and memoir; and appeal to vastly different audiences) somehow seems more than the trashy celebrity cash-in book. Nicole Ritchie’s disparaged dip into writing comes to mind: see Bookroom classics “Anticlimactic didactic,” on Judith Regan’s less-than-classy buys, and Heather McCormack’s reaction to book awards season, ”The biggest losers.”

 Maybe it is the artist behind these performing arts titles—whether he is a master of rippling muscles, shock rock, or street magic—that makes these books worth looking at for something a little more than dissing a now-defunct publishing powerhouse or dreaming up awards for the biggest literary bombs. Or maybe they’ll go down with an even bigger splash!  Look for reviews in forthcoming issues.