Keily Oakes BBC News Online

Right from the off it is clear that Kylie Minogue had nothing to do with the writing of the biography Kylie Confidential.

You wonder if she would laugh or cry at some of the "insightful" offerings author Sean Smith has to say about her.

Kylie Confidential is a book for the Heat magazine generation.

It takes a look at the seedier side of the Kylie machine, drawing the shock conclusion she is not quite the sweet pop princess she has tried to portray on and off for 15 years.

This book will also appeal to her teen fans - the Smash Hits readers - who want to snap up everything there is to know about her.

Kylie found fame in Neighbours alongside Jason Donovan

It covers her days in Neighbours, her romances with Jason Donovan and Michael Hutchence, the resurgence of her career, sibling rivalry and everything in between.

The book is so up-to-the-minute that it will be out of date within months. One for true fans only.

Black lace

It does contain the odd racy moment. There is a comic retelling of Kylie as a 16-year-old seducing a boy at a party - he must have thought all his Christmases had come at once.

The description comes straight from a Black Lace novel, and the pages are destined to become well-thumbed as it is a must to have a giggle over.

There is little new in this book that fans would not already know or could not find in cuttings or on the internet.

Such is the randomness of this Kylie story, I can imagine Sean Smith collecting the cuttings of the past 15 years, throwing them on the floor and writing up his book from the order they land in.

There is little corroboration for any of the gossipy stories as it is clear that no-one from the Kylie camp was involved.

Her eye-popping outfits ensure she remains in the papers

The book starts with an almost laughable birth chart, revealing that, perhaps a touch obviously, Kylie was destined to be a star.

There is a passage in the book which says Kylie hates to be compared to Madonna.

By this point the author has already devoted much space to making that very comparison.

Psychology

But he also finds more curious similarities between Kylie and another famous woman - Princess Diana.

Despite trying to make the connection between the two they really do not seem to have had a great deal in common - apart from being famous.

Hard-nosed, fragile, sex kitten, innocent abroad - the book makes many contradictory conclusions about the diminutive singer that you never get a feel for the real Kylie.

It is little more than a piecing together of every interview she has given with a bit of pop psychology thrown in for good measure.

Kylie Confidential by Sean Smith is published by Michael O'Mara Books.