Star Struck: An Encyclopedia of Celebrity Culture

by Sam Riley

Overview

This balanced examination looks at America's pervasive celebrity culture, concentrating on the period from 1950 to the present day.

Star Struck: An Encyclopedia of Celebrity Culture is neither a stern critic nor an apologist for celebrity infatuation, a phenomenon that sometimes supplants more weighty matters yet constitutes one of our nation's biggest exports. This encyclopedia covers American celebrity culture from 1950 to 2008, examining its various aspects—and its impact—through 86 entries by 30 expert contributors.

Demonstrating that all celebrities are famous, but not all famous people are celebrities, the book cuts across the various entertainment medias and their legions of individual "stars." It looks at sports celebrities and examines the role of celebrity in more serious pursuits and institutions such as the news media, corporations, politics, the arts, medicine, and the law. Also included are entries devoted to such topics as paranoia and celebrity, one-name celebrities, celebrity nicknames, family unit celebrity, sidekick celebrities, and even criminal celebrities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313358128
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/09/2009
Pages:	358
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sam G. Riley has been professor of communication at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA, since 1981.

Editorial Reviews

This offers a much more thoughtful approach to celebrity than other pop culture works aimed at high school students and undergraduates. Recommended for high school, public, and undergraduate academic collections supporting curricula or interests in popular culture.” —Library Jourbanal

“This would be a good purchase for public libraries in particular but would also be of use in an academic library.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

The author of 16 books on media topics, Riley (communications, Virginia Tech) and 30 other scholars and experts in the field have compiled this one-volume encyclopedia on topics and issues related to the culture of celebrity. This is not a biographical encyclopedia; although many celebrities are named in the articles and listed in the index, the 86 entries cover such topics as the antihero, arrests of celebrities, corporate celebrity, humanitarian efforts, paparazzi, and temporary celebrity. The volume begins with a "List of Entries," a five-page introduction that discusses the differences between fame and celebrity, and an eight-page time line ranging from the 1776 appointment of Benjamin Franklin as the U.S. commissioner to France to the 2009 death of Michael Jackson. It is unfortunate that the time line items are not included in the general index. The volume ends with a ten-page "Selected Bibliography," the general index, and the list of contributors. The 40 black-and-white photos are of poor quality and add little to the text, but the large, bold headers, wide margins, and eye-pleasing font make this an attractive work. BOTTOM LINE This offers a much more thoughtful approach to celebrity than other pop culture works aimed at high school students and undergraduates. Recommended for high school, public, and undergraduate academic collections supporting curricula or interests in popular culture.—Rosanne M. Cordell, Indiana Univ. Lib., South Bend

Library Journal