Memoirs of the rich and famous

Political memoirs fly off the shelves like crazy, but how about celebrity memoirs—do you care what movie or rock stars have to say?

Publishers hope the answer is yes, as recent weeks have brought several celebrity book deals.

Most notably, Demi Moore will write a book about her life and career, much of which will focus on her “complicated relationship” with her late mother, Virginia King, and her own experiences as a mother to three daughters. The book reportedly sold to Harper for more than $2 million and will be published in 2012. Will there be juicy tidbits on Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher, and that infamous Vanity Fair photo shoot? Only time will tell . . . but in the meantime if you’re dying for all things Demi you can always join her millions of Twitter followers.

This is old news (the deal was reported in 2009), but worth a reminder: also in 2012, Diane Keaton will publish a memoir about her relationship with her late mother, who died of Alzheimer’s in 2008. The actress explained: “The profound love and gratitude I feel now that she’s left has compelled me to try to unravel the mystery of her journey. In so doing I hope to find the hidden meaning of our relationship and understand why realized dreams are such a strange burden.” This book sold for $2 million, as well (to Random House).

Heavy metal fans will be happy to hear that Ace Frehley, former lead guitarist of Kiss, has a memoir coming out from Simon & Schuster in Summer 2011. Called No Regrets, the book will chronicle “his childhood in the Bronx, his ups-and-downs and influences which catapulted him into a life of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, and what is was like to be one of the founding members of one of the most influential bands” (per Publisher’s Marketplace).

English actor Michael Caine—who wrote a best-selling memoir in 1992 called What’s It All About?—will publish another memoir on November 9 titled The Elephant to Hollywood. The memoir promises to include “an insider’s view of Hollywood” (20 years updated, presumably, since the first memoir was filled with name-dropping of Caine’s co-stars).

In November you can also look forward to a book from Barbara Streisand (her first!): My Passion for Design, which will focus on Streisand’s interest in decorating—including “many of her own photographs of the rooms she has decorated, the furniture and art she has collected, and the ravishing gardens she has planted on her land on the California coast.” I’m afraid the $60 price tag might turn some people away, though—would you pay that much to have a book from Babs?

Which of these celebrity books will you read—any? All? What celebrity would you love to write a memoir?