"Gamson has brilliantly analyzed the complexities of celebrity as a
cultural form. He gives us an insider's account, without going
native. He provides us with a critical overview, without
overlooking the messy details of celebrity-making and its central
place in American society. "Claims to Fame is a must for all those
who seek to understand American public culture."--Jeffrey C.
Goldfarb, author of "The Cynical Society: The Culture of Politics
and the Politics of Culture in American Life
"The most thoughtful and thoroughgoing sociological analysis I
know of this strange and ubiquitous phenomenon, celebrity.
Intricately argued and elegantly written, frequently amusing and
properly alarming, "Claims to Fame deftly avoids either
undervaluing or overvaluing the gullibility of the consumers of
celebrity. Gamson--to use his own words--'mines . . .
superficialities for their depths' and gives us more insight into
the culture of entertainment than a dozen treatises on the
'resistant' potential of Madonna."--Todd Gitlin, University of
California, Berkeley
"The best general account we have of the economic and
representational parameters of contemporary celebrity. "Claims to
Fame would be worth reading simply for its lively and wonderfully
detailed description of the 'celebrity industry' in Los Angeles.
Yet, by tying this description to a compelling argument about the
nature of our investment in celebrity images, the book does much
more. It should have an important place in future discussions of
the mass media and American culture."--Richard deCordova, DePaul
University, author of "Picture Personalities
"Insightful, well-written, replete with telling anecdotes,
"Claims to Fame demonstrateshow one can critically analyze American
culture without sneering at the American people."--Gaye Tuchman,
author of "Making News
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