You Have to Stand for Something, or You'll Fall for Anything

Provocative, smart, outrageous, funny, dead-on--former New York City prosecutor Star Jones has quickly become one of the most often quoted, most respected personalities on television. Now, in her first book, Star writes it like she talks it on her hit ABC-TV show, The View, sharing generous helpings of her strongly held beliefs and take-no-prisoners opinions.

"You have to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything," she writes. "If you don't know what your position is, if you don't know where you draw the line between right and wrong, you'll never see yourself as you truly are. You'll never see the world as it truly is. You'll never have the confidence or the drive to do what you have to do to make a difference. You'll never feel good about yourself and your place in the world. So that's become my credo. Stand for something. And do you know what? I don't fall for much."

No, she doesn't. She doesn't suffer fools or shy from injustice or shrink from her own sense of self and responsibility. No subject is out of bounds for Star Jones, and she touches on a great many of them here: the importance of family and friendship, the law, racism, abortion, her relationship with God, television and politics. On all of these and many other topics, Star has a point of view uniquely and unpredictably her own.

Perhaps the most powerful of all are the intensely personal stories from Star's own upbringing, which she shares in this book for the first time, with warmth, humor, and sometimes painful candor. She writes of the illness that almost took her life, of the complex relationship with her biological father, of the strength and wisdom she draws from her stepfather, the foundation provided by her grandparents, and the extraordinary bond she shares with her mother, who taught her that a star could be born anywhere, even in the small town of Badin, North Carolina.

"Look at it this way," Star suggests. "You've all been invited to a fabulous dinner party. The places are set and the guests have been seated. Now, what have you brought to the table? In many ways, this book is my answer. It's what I bring to the table--life lessons, learned truths, reasoned asides. It's what I stand for. As a young woman I was told (by some man, of course) that I shouldn't 'rock the boat,' that if I waited, good things would come to me. Yeah, right! I chose instead to listen to my mother, who told me that if I wasn't in the boat I should turn it over to make my point. That's the way I considered the law, that's how I now consider the media, and that's how I've approached this book."

As complex, compelling, and often controversial as the woman herself, You Have to Stand for Something, or You'll Fall for Anything is an empowering book by a remarkable woman who walks the walk and talks the talk and challenges you to do the same.

Star Jones rose to senior assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York, where she was renowned for her successful prosecution of high-profile homicide trials and community-sensitive cases. She debuted on television in 1991 as a commentator for Court TV, and later became the legal correspondent for Today. In 1997, she was selected by Barbara Walters to be one of the daily co-hosts for the unique new Emmy Award-winning television show, The View, which has become a favorite of millions of women viewers.

Daniel Paisner has written bestselling books with Geraldo Rivera and Montel Williams.