Now in paperback from Lisa Birnbach, the author of "The Offi cial Preppy Handbook, "comes "True Prep, " which looks at how the old guard of natural-fiber-loving, dog-worshipping, G&T-soaked preppies adapts to the new order of the Internet, cell phones, rehab, political correctness, reality TV, and . . . polar fleece.

Ever wanted to be that fly on the wall? To listen in on conversations that were meant to be intimate, private affairs? To overhear, verbatim, the words of famous entertainers, distinguished politicians, princes, potentates, and petty criminals? Welcome to an eavesdropper's jamboree, where you can revel in the real, unexpurgated words of real people in all their astonishing, appalling, and hilarious entirely - taken from sources like transcripts of testimony that was sealed, depositions that had been buried, recordings of exchanges that were cut from the official broadcasts, conversations considered so confidential, so off-the-record, so privileged and personal that we thought, Hey, why not share them with the whole world? Here is: Michael Jackson's housekeeper describing life chez Jacko; Prince Charles telling his lover his fondest hopes regarding reincarnation; pickup lines from Clarence Thomas; Senators Bob Dole and Alan Simpson trying to reach out and touch Saddam Hussein; Tommy Lasorda revealing what managers really say to pitchers out on the mound; Spike Lee on the importance of higher education; tobacco executives who can't quite make the connection between smoking and lung cancer; and lots more, word for regrettable word - in short, a feast of the famous and infamous caught with their guards down and their mikes on.