Tell Me Something Good

A rollicking, star-studded memoir from the trailblazing New York Times bestselling author and Vanity Fair journalist Maureen Orth, who tackled the power and privilege of celebrity for five decades

In Maureen Orth’s teens, a fortune teller told her that before she died she would have met everyone and gone everywhere, a prophesy that she has close to fulfilled. To Orth, being boring is a mortal sin.

As soon as she graduated from Berkeley, she went east for Peace Corps training and posed with President Lyndon Johnson in the Rose Garden, then argued with Bobby Kennedy aboard the presidential yacht about whether he should run for the Senate.

As one of the first female writers for Newsweek and then as a longtime correspondent for Vanity Fair, she watched Stevie Wonder as he recorded an album that would later be called part of his “perfect run” of records and spent eleven wild days on the set of Apocalypse Now before Francis Ford Coppola threw her off the PT boat. She had dinner in Paris with Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver. She got hit on by Bob Dylan and danced with the shy and scruffy twenty-six-year-old Bruce Springsteen. At forty, she married the love of her life, Tim Russert.

Along the way, she persevered through blatant sexism and helped redefine women’s roles in the newsroom. She broke news with investigative reporting about Gianni Versace’s killer and sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson and Woody Allen. A career in journalism allowed her to live at the white-hot center of power, sex, and culture. But it is her Catholic faith that has sustained her, inspiring a decades-long commitment to creating a cutting-edge educational foundation in Colombia, where her life’s adventure began as a Peace Corps volunteer.

In Tell Me Something Good, Orth vividly chronicles a bygone age when the world felt both bigger and smaller, and a determined and adventurous young woman chartered a course that brought her face-to-face with the most recognizable heroes, villains, and icons of the past fifty years.

Standard and Primary covers are widely available through general retailers. They often have higher print runs and can be cheaper, especially during sales.

In contrast, Direct Market (DM) and variant covers are primarily sold in comic shops. DM editions tend to have more limited availability and may be more valuable to collectors.

The main differences lie in artwork style, availability, price, and collector appeal. Ultimately, the choice between standard and variant covers depends on personal preference, budget, and individual collecting goals.

Comic book enthusiasts have various formats to choose from when collecting their favorite stories.
Here's a brief overview of the main types:

Omnibus

• Large, hardcover collections
• Usually contain complete runs or extensive story arcs
• Typically 800-1000+ pages
• Higher price point, often €100-€150

Oversized Hardcover (OHC)

• Similar dimensions to omnibus, but thinner
• Collect shorter runs or story arcs
• Usually 300-600 pages
• Priced between €30-€50

Hardcover (HC)

• Standard-sized hardcover books
• Collect 6-12 issues typically
• Similar dimensions to single issues, but with a hard cover
• Priced around €25-€35

Trade Paperback (TP)

• Softcover collections
• Standard comic book size
• Usually collect 4-6 issues
• Most affordable option, typically €15-€25

Other Formats

• Absolute Editions: Oversized, deluxe hardcovers (mainly DC Comics)
• Compendiums: Massive paperback collections
• Graphic Novels (OGN/GN): Original stories not previously released as single issues

The choice between these formats often depends on personal preference, budget, and collecting goals. Omnibus and OHC editions offer larger artwork and more content but at a higher price, while TPs provide a more affordable way to collect complete story arcs