By Christopher Cappiello

Without You

By Anthony Rapp

Simon & Schuster, $25

Fans of the musical Rent will eat up this brand new memoir written by the only cast member to have appeared in every incarnation of the show, from its initial workshop production, to the buzz-inducing off-Broadway premiere, the Broadway transfer, and last year's Chris Columbus film. In Without You, Anthony Rapp weaves elements of his personal life into the dramatic tapestry that is the history of Rent, with real life's tragedies and triumphs echoing the show's themes, starting with the death of Jonathan Larsen, the show's 35-year-old creator, on opening night of the off-Broadway run.

Rapp's parents divorced when he was 2, and he and his older brother and sister were raised primarily by their loving but taciturn Midwestern mother. The book documents Rapp's split focus as a busy New York actor tending to his career and a concerned son worried about his mother's ongoing battle with cancer, making increasingly frequent trips back to Joliet, Ill., to see her. Throughout the story, the young actor also wrestles with ways to discuss his boyfriends with his mother, who is happy to never bring up the subject of his sexuality.

Sometimes the juxtapositions between art and life seem a little forced, and only a die-hard Rent-head would appreciate the indulgence with which he recalls certain lyrics on certain nights mirroring offstage circumstances for him or other cast members. But Without You is a breezy read, and a fascinating glimpse at the creation of one of the most original musicals in recent decades.

Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star

By Tab Hunter with Eddie Muller

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $24.95

Readers who aren't yet collecting Social Security can be forgiven for not really knowing who Tab Hunter is. The 74-year-old former star (born Arthur Galien) had a brief but meteoric 1950s film career in which box office receipts belied the critical response; if Tab took off his shirt, the theaters were full, regardless of the critics' objections. The blond, blue-eyed boy with the naturally beautiful body and all-American smile made a notable appearance in John Waters' 1981 Polyester (the chapters about Waters are among the book's most surprising and engaging), but otherwise he has flown under the Hollywood radar for the better part of 40 years.

Hunter's partner of more than 20 years, producer Allan Glaser, convinced him to tell his own story before a tabloid-style bio appeared. ("Better to get it from the horse's mouth, I decided, and not from the horse's ass.") The result is a thoroughly pleasant, well told story that reveals Hunter to be a church-going outdoorsman, a more serious actor than one might expect, and a private man who has wrestled with his sexuality and faith, and is comfortable with who he is. While he is frank about his long-rumored sexuality, Hunter is no activist and remains guarded when it comes to details. His relationships with men like Anthony Perkins are handled delicately, with no overt acknowledgment that they were lovers.

What emerges at the end of the book, however, is a portrait of a man who has gone from working at an Orange Julius stand across from Musso and Frank to the height of Tinseltown fame -- with top 40 records, Broadway roles, camp classics and spaghetti Westerns all part of the mix -- but who remains grounded and grateful for the wild ride.

Ethel Merman: The Biggest Star on Broadway

By Geoffrey Mark

Barricade Legend, $24.95

OK, first of all, when a book has a foreward, acknowledgements (named "Congratulations" here because the people listed were so right to think this book was necessary!), an introduction, and a preface -- all before the first chapter begins -- you know you're in trouble. Even with the overstuffed introductory pages and the gigantic typeface, the book's meager content barely stretches to 200 pages. The most ardent admirers of Miss Merman probably already know most of what is clumsily conveyed here, and nobody else will have the patience to wade through the poorly constructed prose that abuses the use of exclamation points and even misuses words. ("Almost from the time she was cogent as an infant, nothing seemed out of her grasp." Cogent?)

The press notes emphasize that author Geoffrey Mark has provided "never before told" details of Merman's brief marriage to Ernest Borgnine. Apparently this relates to a lurid anecdote about Borgnine's erectile dysfunction on their wedding night and an ensuing brawl. The story is presented without a single note of attribution.

All is not lost for hardcore Merman fans. Mark presents almost 100 additional pages of appendices, painstakingly listing all of Miss Merman's radio and television appearances, film work, recordings, and stage appearances.

Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops

By James Robert Parish

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., $24.95

With a highly entertaining style and meticulous research, James Robert Parish presents in-depth looks at 15 of Hollywood's greatest flops in Fiasco. Stretching from the mother of all flops, 1963's Cleopatra, to Town & Country, Warren Beatty's 2001 flop about middle-age infidelity, Fiasco offers delicious details about monstrous egos, unfinished scripts, corporate buffoonery, and runaway expense accounts. All the while, Parish continually puts the films' colorful stories in a context that helps the reader understand the changed ways of doing business in Hollywood, and even how some of the flops inspired the changes.

The excesses of Cleopatra have been well documented, most notably Elizabeth Taylor's exorbitant salary and expenses. But who knew that the difficult and demanding Rex Harrison was pulling in $10k a week as Caesar? Parish's coverage of the ill-fated film version of the musical Paint Your Wagon is hilarious as he documents the brilliant executive decisions that led to the decidedly tone-deaf stars Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood headlining a musical.

Some Hollywood figures are so lucky they figure in more than one of the 15 flops. Paramount's legendary Bob Evans is partly responsible for Paint Your Wagon and 1984's The Cotton Club.

Warren Beatty can be thanked in large part for Ishtar and Town & Country. Among the other flops profiled by Parish are Popeye, Last Action Hero, Waterworld, and John Travolta's disastrous salute to L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth. Parish's combination of detailed reporting and sardonic wit actually results in the reader's curious desire to go out and rent these awful films.