cover image My Lips Are Sealed

My Lips Are Sealed

Susan Mulcahy. Doubleday Books, $17.95 (238pp) ISBN 978-0-385-24359-9

This flip and frothy volume is by the woman who for three years edited Page Six for the New York Post and now performs the same duties for Newsday. It tells what a gossip columnist does and how she (most of them are women) goes about it. Particularly absorbing is Mulcahy's account of trying to fill Page Six with timely items and avoid being scooped. She tells what makes news in a gossip column: celebrities shown to be just like everybody else and celebrities shown to be very different from ``Regular People.'' She explains why certain famous individuals were non-people to the Post, like Paul Newman, who would not conceal his contempt for the paper. There are also tales of famous parties, particularly Swifty Lazar's annual post-Oscar bash. (June)