Diana's Dogs

Ed Ifkovic delivers his own spin on this international celebrity, an idiosyncratic collection of short pieces that create a portrait of the mercurial star. From a Detroit housing project to a Connecticut mansion-who is this woman who exacts such loyalty from her fans and such vitriol from her detractors? There are pieces on Diana's tantrums, true, but also jottings on the homes she's lived in, the food she eats, the cars she drives, even her role as muse for writers. There is a collection of poetic similes commentators have employed to describe her, as well as a mind-boggling catalogue of garish tabloid headlines. This off-beat book, admittedly an obsessive fan's unembarrassed send-up-equal parts delight and censure-is a spirited yet sardonic tale that also explores the integration of black music into the white mainstream. Frankly, Diana led that noble charge. What the author delights in is the unorthodox observation and gossipy tidbit that accompanied that revolution.