231 ratings | 4 reviews | avg rating:4.30

Michael's Bookshelves

read (233)
currently-reading (4)
to-read (8)

Michael’s Friends (282)

Luke Barr

0 books | 47 friends

Boris

0 books | 293 friends

D.A. Metrov

31 books | 185 friends

Catherine

25 books | 39 friends

Nancy Bilyeau

259 books | 823 friends

Donald

503 books | 559 friends

Patricia Jean

253 books | 19 friends

Christina Haag

121 books | 310 friends

More friends…

Michael Gross

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/Nomdevdt

born

in New York City, The United States

July 16

gender

male

website

http://www.mgross.com

twitter username

MGrossGripepad

genre

Nonfiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Travel

influences

Milton Gross, Gay Talese, Norman Mailer, Tom Wolfe, Dominick Dunne

member since

May 2011

About this author

edit data

This book list is a work in progress. Michael Gross is recognized as one of America’s most provocative writers of non-fiction–its “foremost chronicler of the upper-crust,” says curbed.com. His latest book Unreal Estate, to be published November 1, 2011, is a west coast version of his bestseller, 740 Park, this time exposing the most exclusive neighborhoods of Los Angeles–Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel Air and Beverly Park–and their residents. 740 Park, published in 2005, is the inside story of New York’s richest, most prestigious cooperative apartment building. Built by James T. Lee, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ grandfather, and long the residence of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 740 Park is today the home of some of New York’s wealthiest and...more This book list is a work in progress. Michael Gross is recognized as one of America’s most provocative writers of non-fiction–its “foremost chronicler of the upper-crust,” says curbed.com. His latest book Unreal Estate, to be published November 1, 2011, is a west coast version of his bestseller, 740 Park, this time exposing the most exclusive neighborhoods of Los Angeles–Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel Air and Beverly Park–and their residents. 740 Park, published in 2005, is the inside story of New York’s richest, most prestigious cooperative apartment building. Built by James T. Lee, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ grandfather, and long the residence of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 740 Park is today the home of some of New York’s wealthiest and most prominent families. Fortune has described 740 Park as “jaw-dropping apartment porn.” It offers an unprecedented peek into the world of such latterday financial heroes and villains as Stephen Schwarzman, Ezra Merkin and John Thain.

In between these real estate epics, Gross published the wildly controversial expose of New York’s cultural elite Rogues’ Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money that Made the Metropolitan Museum in 2009, setting off an extraordinary campaign by some of New York’s most influential citizens to suppress the book. It failed. The New York Times Book Review called it “a blockbuster exhibition of human achievement and flaws” and Vanity Fair said it is simply “explosive.” Why? “Gross demonstrates he knows his stuff. It’s a terrific tale…gossipy, color-rich, fact-packed …What Gross reveals is stuff that more people should know,” according to USA Today. A paperback edition was released in May 2010.

Before 740 Park, Gross wrote Genuine Authentic, a biography of fashion designer Ralph Lauren. It was acclaimed by The New York Times as a work of “impressive reporting” that “hack(s) through the hype and half-truths” of the Polo purveyor’s legend. Publishers Weekly praised his “meticulous research and artful prose…The crackerjack journalist simultaneously tells a compelling story and gives it meat enough to be satisfying.”

A Contributing Editor of Travel & Leisure, Gross has also worked as a columnist for The New York Times, GQ, Tatler, Town & Country, and The Daily News; a Contributing Editor of New York (where he wrote 26 cover stories, including the magazine’s all-time best-selling reported cover story on John F. Kennedy, Jr.), and of Talk; a Senior Writer at Esquire, and a Senior Editor at George.

In 2000, Gross published My Generation, a generational biography of the Baby Boom. It was called “wonderful” by the Washington Times, “trenchant, well-dramatized, thought-provoking and unusual” by Kirkus Reviews and “hugely entertaining…a brilliantly reported story,” by the Orlando Sentinel.

Gross’s 1995 book, Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, was an investigative tour-de-force, and a blistering expose of the fashion-modeling business. It was a New York Times bestseller, and a selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club. Model, which remains in print and in demand more than a dozen years after its first publication, was also published in France, the U. K., Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Brazil, and China. Most recently, an updated edition was published in Russia. Click here to read reviews of Model.

Over the years Gross has profiled such subjects as John F. Kennedy Jr., Greta Garbo, Stephanie of Monaco, Richard Gere, Alec Baldwin, Madonna, and Ivana Trump; fashion figures Tina Chow, Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg, Isaac Mizrahi, Ralph Lauren, and Steven Meisel, and he’s written on topics as diverse as philanthropy, the theft of the internet domain sex.com, plastic surgery, divorce, the A-List, Sex in the 90s and Greenwich Village-the last in an article that introduced the phrase “quality of life” into New York City’s 1993 mayoral campaig(less)

263 posts
Michael Gross's Blog

Koch is Chill(ing)

Via Bloomberg View, author William D. Cohan adds his voice to the chorus of condemnation aimed at billionaire Tea Party pal and 740 Park resident David Koch (shown greeting the late New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg at an obviously bipartisan 2010 party) in an essay titled “David Koch’s Chilling Effect on Public Television.” Cohan is commenting on The New Yorker’s recent revelation about atte...

combine editions
Michael Gross's Books

Average rating: 3.20 · 747 ratings · 128 reviews · 8 distinct works · Similar authors

	740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building 3.19 of 5 stars 3.19 avg rating — 313 ratings — published 2005 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women 3.31 of 5 stars 3.31 avg rating — 173 ratings — published 1995 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rogues' Gallery: The Secret Story of the Lust, Lies, Greed, and Betrayals That Made the Metropolitan Museum of Art 3.07 of 5 stars 3.07 avg rating — 153 ratings — published 2009 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition, and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles 3.06 of 5 stars 3.06 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 2011	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren 3.14 of 5 stars 3.14 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 2003 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bob Dylan, an Illustrated History, Revised and updated 4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 1965 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Generation: Fifty Years of Sex, Drugs, Rock, Revolution, Glamour, Greed, Valor, Faith, and Silicon Chips 3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2000 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Rock Yearbook, 1981 by Michael Gross (Goodreads Author), Maxim Jakubowski 5.0 of 5 stars 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1981	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Life On The Edge: Amazing Creatures Thriving in Extreme Environments 3.0 of 5 stars 3.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1998 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Michael Gross…

Upcoming Events

No scheduled events. Add an event.

Michael is Currently Reading

Michael Gross is currently reading

Holdouts!

by Andrew Alpern

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Dec 30, 2012 08:05am

Michael Gross is currently reading

Beautiful Ruins

by Jess Walter

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Dec 30, 2012 07:59am

Michael Gross is currently reading

The Beautiful and Damned

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 05, 2011 08:00am

rss
Michael's Recent Updates

Michael Gross is now friends with Chloe Farrell foreht
Jun 17, 2013 09:22am · like
Michael Gross rated a book 5 of 5 stars The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 22, 2013 09:56am
Michael Gross wants to read Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:07am
Michael Gross rated a book 2 of 5 stars House of Holes by Nicholson Baker	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:07am
Michael Gross rated a book 5 of 5 stars Historic Manhattan Apartment Houses by Andrew Alpern	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:06am
Michael Gross rated a book 5 of 5 stars Apartments for the Affluent: A Historical Survey of Buildings in New York by Andrew Alpern	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:06am
Michael Gross is currently reading Holdouts! by Andrew Alpern	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:05am
Michael Gross rated a book 5 of 5 stars The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter by Andrew Alpern	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:05am
Michael Gross rated a book 4 of 5 stars Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan: An Illustrated History by Andrew Alpern	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:05am
Michael Gross rated a book 5 of 5 stars New York's Fabulous Luxury Apartments: with Original Floor Plans from the Dakota, River House, Olympic Tower and Other Great Buildings by Andrew Alpern	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 30, 2012 08:05am