Confessions of a Video Vixen

Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans Amistad/HarperCollins, June 2005 $24.95, ISBN 0-060-84242-3

You've probably heard about Confessions of a Video Vixen, part memoir, part name dropping tell-all. Its author, Karrine Steffans, has made the rounds discussing her book, defending herself from the accusations that she only wrote it to get paid, and not, as she asserts, to caution young women who dream of being in show business. (The book went straight to the top of best-seller lists, including BIBR's FLYING OFF THE SHELVES and The New York Times, where it had stayed for weeks as of our presstime.)

Confessions tells the story of Yizette Santiago, Steffans's alter ego, video film star, achieving A-list status; a sought-after woman before the ripe old age of 20.

Steffans paints a grim picture of her childhood in St. Thomas. Fast forward to a sexually charged Yizette appearing in scores of music videos, and a role opposite Vin Diesel in A Man Apart; living for weeks at a time in expensive hotel suites with hip-hop celebrities and hanging out at ultra-trendy dubs.

For those looking for sordid details, Confessions delivers very few. You'll find little in terms of titillating details. A quick, surprisingly well-written read, Confessions will pull at your heartstrings. Steffans has a message for those who dream of the living in the fast lane: all that glitters isn't gold.

--Reviewed by Jonathan Luckett Jonathan Luckett's latest novel is Dissolve (Strebor Books, July 2005).

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