Daily Staff Writer

The upside of celebrityhood: Huge paychecks, the best tables at swank restaurants, and attractive people who throw themselves at you. The downside? Complete strangers’ insatiable appetite for any sign of human frailty.

In other words, they may love you, but they love seeing you screw up even more.

Not one, but two new paperback books capitalize on our fondness for the foibles of the famous with mug shots of celebrities arrested for everything from writing bad checks to murder.

In Mug Shots: Celebrities Under Arrest, (St. Martin’s Press), George Seminara culled through police department records for the infamous shots.

In his 40-odd pictures, he got the obvious: O.J. Simpson and Hugh Grant. He also got the obscure: Larry King arrested for grand larceny and a very young-looking Al Pacino nabbed for carrying a concealed weapon. Woody Harrelson was also captured staring blankly after being picked up for disorderly conduct.

Whether obvious or obscure, all amuse. Famous Mugs: Arresting Photos and Felonious Facts for Hundreds of Stars Behind Bars (Andrews and McNeel) has about the same number of pictures as Mug Shots, but also includes vignettes about other celebrity arrests.

Some highlights:

*Dennis Hopper looking like a Manson family refugee after being charged in Taos, N.M., with reckless driving, failure to report an accident and leaving the scene of an accident. He later pleaded guilty to the minor traffic incident and was fined $250.

*Speed star Keanu Reeves booked for drunken driving.

*Jane Fonda doing her ”Power to the People” raised-fist salute in her mug shot after being picked up in Cleveland for assault and battery, accused of kicking a cop. All charges later were dropped.

And the verdict on gleefully enjoying these notorious moments?

Guilty as charged.