Danielle's book is out

Here is an article from the Star-Ledger about Danielle's book The Naked Truth.

By Vicki Hyman/The Star-Ledger

Danielle Staub, the much-maligned (by her castmates, at least) star of "Real Housewives of New Jersey," finally opens up about her troubled past (well, if you don't take into account this story, or this one, or the reunion show, in which we heard talk about her childhood sexual abuse, or even our interview at a local hair salon, natch, in which she talked about her first husband's alleged abuse.)

So here's what we learned, $25 later: Staub, er Beverly Merrill, was born to an unmarried woman from Italy whose family may have actually killed the woman's lover. Staub was sexually abused from the ages of 7 to 9 (she doesn’t name names, only that they were relatives and family friends). She left home young, moved to Florida with one of her boyfriends, and spent her early 20s working at bars, modeling and doing speed.

She dated an Olympic athlete (no name), shared a "passionate" kiss with Don Johnson in his "Miami Vice" heyday and made out with Prince at a party: "All I am going to say is that he was the best kisser out of all the celebrities I have ever been with." (Which apparently includes WKTU DJ Goumba Johnny, whom she dated after her second marriage broke up. Who's next? The Situation? )

Staub eventually started working as a call girl and confirms that she slept with two of her clients. "I was not paid to go up to men’s hotel rooms," she clarifies. "I was paid to establish relationships." Cue Teresa Giuidce: Prostitution whore!

Of the drug-related kidnapping for which she was once arrested -- the centerpiece of the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" season one drama -- she dismisses it as "wrong place/wrong time" deal in which she was only peripherally involved. In prison, she fell under the protection of meth dealer Sister Sue, who saved her from being raped by prison guards. While waiting to be sentenced for the plea bargain, she met Kevin Maher, later immortalized in "Cop Without a Badge," in which he claimed that Staub was a coke whore. Contrary to Maher’s memory, she says she was not wearing leather hot pants during their first meeting: "I was actually dressed quite tastefully in a long, fitted, ruffled Spanish dress."

They moved to New York, where she became an exotic dancer. They married, but their relationship became violent -- she says he beat and terrorized her, he tells Usmagazine.com he hit her once, and only in self-defense -- and eventually ended. She met her wealthy second husband while working at a Carlstadt strip club, married him and "quickly made the transition to socialite," though that marriage, too, ended in divorce.

How's the book doing? The hardcover is ranked 2,808 on Amazon.com as of this afternoon (88 spots above "Cop Without a Badge.") The Kindle version of Staub's memoir is doing better: 1,113, and it's the second best-selling book for memoirs of famous and notable people, right behind Kitty Kelley's unauthorized bio of Oprah Winfrey.

Meanwhile, fellow "Real Housewife" Teresa's cookbook, "Skinny Italian," which has been out for about three weeks, is selling briskly. It was ranked 96 in sales on Amazon.com this afternoon, and it's both the top-selling low-fat cookbook and Italian cookbook, topping recent releases by Mario Batali and Giada De Laurentiis.