Madonna's Brother Tell All Book Drops July 15th

Madonna's misery continues today as details of her brother's tell-all book emerge.

Christopher Ciccone claims that the singer - who has been rocked by divorce rumours as well as allegations that she is behind the marriage break-up of baseball player Alex Rodriguez - loves her career and herself more than husband Guy Ritchie.

The claims come amid widespread speculation that Madonna's marriage is breaking down and the allegations have angered the volatile pop star, sparking a huge family row.

In turmoil: Divorce rumours and allegations of an intimate relationship with Alex Rodriguez looked to be taking their toll as the singer left her apartment yesterday

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A spokeswoman said last night that Madonna was 'upset' by the book, in which Ciccone, a gay decorator and chef, depicts his sister as manipulative and self-obsessed.

'I hope that it is Kabbalah's lesson that she is not the centre of the universe,' Ciccone wrote in one of a number of barbed comments in Life With My Sister Madonna, which is due for release on Tuesday.

Yesterday the pop star emerged from her New York apartment looking tired and despondent in a sign the pressure of the past month is beginning to take its toll.

Tell-all book: Madonna pictured with Christopher in 1998, she is said to be 'upset' by the claims in his upcoming memoir

Her husband Guy Ritchie was seen leaving the Central Park West residence separately, accompanied by the couple's seven-year-old son Rocco.

The 49-year-old has been linked to the £50million marriage break-up of Rodriguez, the world's most expensive baseball player, and his wife Cynthia.

Reports claim that Rodriguez, 32 - in the first season of a £139million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees - made a series of visits to Madonna's New York flat, and that he converted to Kabbalah, the mystical Jewish movement followed by Madonna. Cynthia, 34, filed for divorce earlier on Monday.

Madonna issued a statement Sunday saying that she has 'nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study,' referring to reports that the she had introduced the sports star to Kabbalah.

The scandal comes just weeks after reports that Madonna and Guy marriage was on the rocks.

However the singer's estranged brother appears to defend their marriage in the 342-page book, published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment.

Ciccone says that he believes the couple are "passionately committed" to staying married, with the help of Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism.

He describes Ritchie as a man's man undisturbed by homophobic humor, whose emergence in Madonna's life marks 'the death knell' of the Ciccones' brother-sister bond.

Ciccone portrays Madonna as a show business survivor - bossy and self-absorbed, sometimes compassionate, mindful of 'how little faith many people once had in her.'

Ex files: Alex Rodriguez with wife Cynthia, whose divorce lawyers have criticized his association with Madonna

His memoir includes everything from gossip about Madonna's sex life.

It says she lost her virginity to a 'guy named Russell', says ex-husband Sean Penn was referred to by Madonna as a 'paranoid control freak' and that Warren Beatty, another of Madonna's lovers, allegedly cornered Ciccone at a party and quizzed him intensely on what it was like to be gay.

The book offers snapshots of Bruce Willis allegedly chatting up other women while still married to Demi Moore, of Ciccone dancing with Moore at a drag queen club, of Madonna allegedly kissing Gwyneth Paltrow on the mouth during a New Year's Eve dance at which Ciccone said that he and Ritchie almost came to blows.

Ciccone, 47, worked often with his older sister, designing and directing her Girlie Show tour in 1993 and serving as artistic director of her 1991 documentary, Madonna: Truth or Dare.

But in his book, he says they are no longer close.

Cashing in: Christopher Ciccone's book - which couldn't come at a worse time for his sister - is due for release next week

Madonna's representative, Liz Rosenberg, said last night that the singer had not read the memoir but found it 'very upsetting' that Ciccone 'has decided to sell a book based on his sister.'

'I would have to assume she has come to terms with the fact that they do not have a close and loving relationship,' Miss Rosenberg said.

'And with the book coming out, I assume that will remove the chances of that ever happening.'

Life With My Sister Madonna was co-authored by celebrity biographer Wendy Leigh, who has written books on Liza Minnelli, Grace Kelly and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Simon Spotlight, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, has announced a first printing of 350,000.

Earlier this year, stores were asked to order the book "blind," without knowing the author or subject. Last month, the publisher released the subject matter - and the name of the author.

In 2006, William Morrow offered a mysterious tell-all that turned out to be by Princess Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, who had already written about her. Retailers were angered and the book sold poorly.

Summer Reading

**Your HG apologizes for the MIA status as of late, you know how the warm weather calls us all to the sandy beaches of the Cape. In celebration of the summer's beach blanket bonanza I find it only acceptable to tell you about a new summer read. And what's better than a book that combines both our love for literature and *happiness* the Hermes Birkin Bag. So run to the nearest book store and pick up Bringing Home the Birkin.**

Here's a quick Q+A with the book's author Michael Tonello.

Questions for Herms hype–buster Michael Tonello.

Widely prized, legendarily elusive, and outrageously expensive, the Hermès Birkin bag possesses a mythic stature. In his new book, Bringing Home the Birkin (William Morrow, $25.95), Michael Tonello, cofounder of Boston-based advertising collaborative Team, proves you don't have to be married to Tom Cruise to snag a $25,000 It bag—or to resell it on eBay.

Q: You say the bag's fabled two-year wait list is, in fact, a fable. So how do you get your hands on a Birkin?

A: Money talks. Then money talks some more. If you spend $1,000 on something else at Hermès first, the bags magically appear. Between September and Christmas 2004, I purchased and resold 130 or 140 Birkins.
Q: Didn't Hermès catch on to your game?
A: I had a half-dozen credit cards, all with slightly different names. But there were still a few stores where I became persona non grata.
Q: It was rumored that an advance copy of your book went for nearly $1,000 on eBay. It seems you took luxury marketing techniques to heart.
A: We gave out press copies in a Birkin-shaped box because we wanted to put the book on par with the Hermès brand. I'm trying to get it into the hands of celebs. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that word of mouth fuels itself.

Great Gift Idea

Here's an artsy fun gift idea for that hard to buy person. Blurb has introduced its BookSmart product that lets users produce sophisticated high-quality books. Best of all the book editing software is FREE! Unlike other photo albums produced with products like iPhoto, Blurb’s product helps produce books based around a variety of content types like cookbooks, portfolios, art, baby books and, yes, photo books. So what are you waiting for? Put those old photos and memories to good use, who knows, you might just get published.

Monthly Must Read

Sophie Kinsella, known as the name behind the Shopaholic series, is the undisputed queen of the “likable but shallow” protagonist (although my sister argues that Becky is NEVER shallow). She conjures up tale after tale where the nice, funny girl you want to share a cosmo with encounters some huge dilemma and somehow comes out of it all smiling - not to mention fashionably fabulous. Her latest must read Remember Me? isn’t all that different – your Holly Golightly definitely enjoyed this one almost as much as she enjoyed her tales of BeckyBloomwood.

"In this irresistible novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Shopaholic & Baby, 24-year old Lexi Smart wakes up to find she not only has amnesia—but that her once imperfect life is now … perfect. How did this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?" (Official Random House website)