But Enough About Me
By Jancee Dunn, Harper Entertainment, 2006

But Enough About Me by Jancee Dunn, Harper Entertainment, 2006

       Jancee Dunn always seemed too smart for her job as a VJ on MTV2. Awkward and self-deprecating, she lacked the surface sheen of the spokesmodels on the original MTV network, and she always seemed about to burst into laughter at the absurdity of introducing music videos on a cable channel. As But Enough About Me, DunnÕs humorous memoir, explains, there was some truth to the appearance. Originally a print journalist (she wrote celebrity profiles for Rolling Stone) Dunn came to MTV not by way of showbiz but via her knowledge of music. Her life story reveals her to be not exactly a scholar, but she is certainly a cut above many of her colleagues in the mental acuity department – and sheÕs funnier than most of them, too.

       The bookÕs subtitle promises to reveal ÒHow a Small-Town Girl Went from Shag Carpet to the Red Carpet.Ó The solution to that mystery is a somewhat disappointing combination of being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people. A college dropout who had moved back into her parentsÕ house in New Jersey, Dunn was a stereotypical Jersey girl with few prospects. She took a job with an advertising agency and started dating Ritchie, an uncouth loser who liked to shout things like ÒWhere the white women at?Ó when he walked into a party. She appeared stuck in mediocreville until, at one of RitchieÕs rowdy Jersey parties, she met a woman who worked in Rolling StoneÕs marketing department. The woman encouraged Dunn to send in a resume, and before she knew it Dunn was working in the City as an editorial assistant at the magazine.

       Dunn quickly moved up the journalistic ladder. Her first interview was with the Sex PistolsÕ Johnny Rotten, who refused to talk to her. Quick-thinking Dunn, noticing the contents of the room-service tray in RottenÕs hotel room, taunted him with ÒWow. Milk. Pretty punk rock.Ó Her audacity impressed Rotten, and she got her interview. From there Dunn ascended into the stratosphere of celebrity interviewing – Brad Pitt, Madonna, Bono and many other megastars.

       DunnÕs foray into MTV was almost as much of a fluke as her initial leap into journalism. A friend encouraged her to audition for a spot on the new all-music secondary MTV channel, and on the strength of her journalistic credentials (and presumably not because of her bumbling on-camera delivery, its off-kilter charm aside) she got the job, a part-time gig introducing videos and throwing out bits of music trivia. Dunn seemed to be on her way to stardom.

       Unfortunately, the dream was not to be. When Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner wanted to create some synergy between his companyÕs Us Magazine and TVÕs "Good Morning, America," Dunn was tapped to produce a series of lifestyle segments for the show. Alas, DunnÕs unpolished style proved not so popular with the viewers and producers of a network morning show, and when her one-year contract was up she was cut loose. Having given up her MTV job and cut back on her print work for the network gig, Dunn was faced with the necessity of re-envisioning her career and life path. She seemed to have fallen from the top of the heap back to the middle.

       DunnÕs delivery of her life story is engaging and funny, even if the story itself has a ho-hum quality. The smart, amiable daughter of solid, middle-class parents, Dunn enjoys a home life idyllic in its unremarkable-ness. She gets along well with her sisters and she has lots of friends. Take away the celebrity interviews and all youÕre left with is the story of a young woman who moves to New York and spends a couple of decades stuck in adolescence (not an uncommon problem in New York) before finally realizing that growing up is potentially a lot more satisfying than remaining a kid all your life.

                                         But if you took away the celebrity interviews, youÕd take away the best part of the book. Dunn alternates chapters of her memoir with chapters of anecdotes from her professional life cast as tips for aspiring entertainment journalists. Although itÕs just a formal gimmick, these chapters actually could offer some legitimate hints for young journalists: donÕt act like a fan when youÕre interviewing; do your research; try to conduct the interview in a locale with few distractions; etc.

       The real treasures in these chapters, however, are the gossipy anecdotes. Dunn has dodged paparazzi with Ben Affleck (while posing as his girlfriend), resisted encouragement to try heroin from Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and made fudge with Loretta Lynn. Dunn has more respect for the celebrities she interviews than most other journalists who have written behind-the-scenes memoirs (she writes about Madonna even-handedly, and when Jennifer BealsÕ outrageous behavior reduces her to tears, Dunn turns the incident into a learning opportunity instead of an anti-celebrity rant) and her respect for her subjects makes her an outstanding interviewer.

       DunnÕs interviewing skills give her something to talk about, and her irresistible sense of humor makes her self-assessment something worth reading, even if the life she writes about is not so different from all the NYC lives weÕve already read about.

       Evan Gillespie is a former Fort Wayne resident living in South Bend.

Copyright 2007 Ad Media Inc.