12 Entertainment Books You Should Read This Summer

Yes, Virginia, there is something other than "Fifty Shades of Grey" to tote to the beach this summer.

Here are 12 books about the entertainment industry worth loading onto your iPad, Nook or Kindle or actually carrying in paper version, from oral histories of MTV and NBC's must-see TV to biographies of Superman and "Super Bad" James Brown:

"THE ONE: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF JAMES BROWN"

By RJ Smith

Smith never lets you forget that the reason he's writing this authoritative biography of Brown in the first place is because of the soul legend's musical genius, but he also doesn't downplay Brown's often scandalous life, which began in poverty and included being raised by an aunt who ran a bordello.

Just as Brown reinvented himself again and again musically, so he did in his personal life, including earning and losing -- several times -- his fortune, and being estranged from most of his children, despite his own fractured family childhood.

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Smith interviewed more than 100 people who knew and worked with Brown to help shed light on how the "hardest working man in show business" never really got his personal life together, but he used that complicated existence to make classic soul music.

"I WANT MY MTV: THE UNCENSORED STORY OF THE MUSIC VIDEO REVOLUTION"

By Craig Marks & Rob Tannenbaum

Marks and Tannenbaum interviewed more than 400 people -- artists, network and music industry execs and, of course, VJs -- for this oral history of the cable network that, once upon a time, was one of the main drivers of every aspect of pop culture, not just music videos.

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Dave Grohl, Janet Jackson, Conan O'Brien, Duran Duran bass player John Taylor, Lenny Kravitz, Pat Benatar, Lady Gaga, Chris Isaak and Weird Al Yankovic are among the eclectic lineup of famous types who offer up what MTV meant to them and how it influenced their careers in the book, which is divided up into chapters covering different aspects of the network's history.

And then there are the anecdotes and delicious little details, from how Mick Jagger was persuaded -- and paid just $1 -- to repeat the network's "I want my MTV!" catchphrase to how the network, during the music video heyday, was a steady employer of little people and Playboy models.

"TOP OF THE ROCK: INSIDE THE RISE AND FALL OF MUST SEE TV"

By Warren Littlefield (with T.R. Pearson)

Littlefield was the NBC head honcho during the era when the network was truly must-see TV, i.e. the "Seinfeld," "Friends," "ER" and "Frasier" era. Here he has assembled all his former friends and co-workers for this addictive oral history, full of show histories, casting "almost was" stories and the scoop on how the network's best comedies almost always had major drama going on behind the scenes.

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Like how "Cheers" star John Ratzenberger became so fed up with the substance abuse-fueled unpreparedness of co-star Kelsey Grammer that the man who played know-it-all mailman Cliff Clavin had to be held back from cleaning Grammer's clock. And how the "Seinfeld" gang wasn't exactly sorry to see George Costanza's fiancé, Susan, die after licking that poisonous envelope; the cast members weren't fans of Heidi Swedberg, who portrayed the doomed would-be Mrs. Costanza.

Littlefield also turns the book into a pithy, interesting tome on how networks operate behind the scenes, with money and ratings first and foremost, even when other execs are busily swilling vodka (yes, names are named) and the show that turns out to be one of the most successful in history started out as one of the most poorly testing pilots in the network's history (yes, "Seinfeld").

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