McDougall, Christopher 1962–

PERSONAL: Born 1962.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Daniel Mandell, Stanford J. Greenburger Associates, 55 5th Ave., New York, NY 10003.

CAREER: Writer. Has worked as foreign correspondent for Associated Press.

AWARDS, HONORS: Clarion Award, Association for Women in Communications, 2002, for article "The Clan behind the Curtain," in Philadelphia magazine.

WRITINGS:

Girl Trouble: The True Saga of Superstar Gloria Trevi and the Teenage Sex Cult That Stunned the World, (nonfiction), Ravo/HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Men's Health, Bicycling, Philadelphia, Gentleman's Quarterly, Men's Journal, Inc., and New York.

SIDELIGHTS: Journalist Christopher McDougall has covered a variety of topics in his writings, ranging from warfare in Africa to show-business scandals in the Americas. His first book deals the latter, telling the story of Mexican singing star Gloria Trevi, whose case he had previously chronicled for the New York Times Magazine. Trevi and Sergio Andrade—the vocalist's producer-mentor and onetime husband—were accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing young girls they had promised to groom for stardom. Trevi had built her fame on songs dealing frankly with sexuality, and she was a hugely popular artist in Mexico in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1998 the allegations led her and Andrade to become fugitives; they were eventually arrested and jailed in Brazil.

Drawing on interviews with both Trevi and Andrade, as well as from additional research, McDougall details their careers, the scandal, their flight, and their incarceration in Girl Trouble: The True Saga of Superstar Gloria Trevi and the Teenage Sex Cult That Stunned the World. The book was published before Trevi was acquitted in September of 2004; Andrade was convicted and sentenced on a charge relating to his involvement with an underage girl. Because of the timing of its release, the book provides "no cathartic resolution," commented Mike Tribby in Booklist, but the reviewer nevertheless wrote that McDougall offers "more than enough fascinating, politely depraved twists," all narrated in "appropriate tones."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 2004, Mike Tribby, review of Girl Trouble: The True Saga of Superstar Gloria Trevi and the Teenage Sex Cult That Stunned the World, p. 459.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2004, review of Girl Trouble, p. 949.

Library Bookwatch, April, 2005, review of Girl Trouble.