cover image It's Better to Laugh--: Life, Good Luck, Bad Hair Days, and Qvc

It's Better to Laugh--: Life, Good Luck, Bad Hair Days, and Qvc

Kathy Levine. Pocket Books, $23 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-671-51107-4

QVC is one of the most successful cable TV shopping channels, and Levine is one of its most successful ``hosts,'' i.e., pitchwoman. Those already in love with Levine, and their number is legion, will be as eager to buy her autobiography as they are to purchase anything she sells on the tube; others won't. As told to Scovell, who also collaborated on books with Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Horne, Kathy's life story is the tale of a Jewish girl with a wonderfully supportive mother and a sour, negative father, who grew up overweight and self-deprecating, married and divorced a nice guy who didn't want a wife with a career, schlepped around in a series of jobs and finally found her niche at QVC. Amid her claims that her primary motivation is bringing happiness to viewers, it becomes clear that she could give lessons in fiscal focus to J.P. Morgan and Donald Trump. This TV diva who has come into her own gives us the ``real poop'' throughout, e.g., ``Being a single woman is not a curse... you don't necessarily need a `man' [but] you do need a purpose.'' Author tour. (Oct.)