In this engaging history of celebrity culture from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, Sharon Marcus argues that the drama of celebrity depends on the interactions of three equally powerful groups: the media, the public, and celebrities themselves.
Sharon Marcus is the Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. She is a founding editor of Public Books and the author of the award-winning Between Women: Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England (Princeton) and Apartment Stories: City and Home in Nineteenth-Century Paris and London. Twitter @MarcusSharon
"[An] inventive, stimulating book. . . . [Sharon] Marcus is a
brilliant theorist and analyst of theater history."---Elaine
Showalter, New York Times
"[An] insightful and often entertaining take on celebrity. . . .
The linchpin of the author's study is French stage actress Sarah
Bernhardt, a master of self-promotion. To the shelves of works
about Bernhardt, Marcus brings a singular take—richly illustrated
throughout by reproduced drawings, paintings, and photographs—that
fascinates as it explains her concepts of celebrity."
*Kirkus*
"Marcus’s study of Bernhardt, a Jewish actress, is remarkable. Even
though this is an academic text, it reads so well. And wow, could
we read a bajillion more books on Sarah Bernhardt!!!"---Emily
Burack, Alma
"Marcus’s great achievement here is that she leads us on a journey
of understanding celebrity and stardom with a richer history than
we are often want to take."---D. Gilson, Lambda Literary
"The Drama of Celebrity by Sharon Marcus is a hybrid of biography
and sociological treatise on one of the most important phenomena of
modern times . . . why we are attracted to — or, conversely,
repulsed by — celebrity culture."---Kitty Kelley, Washington
Independent Review of Books
"[An] insightful and engaging examination of celebrity culture . .
. Marcus augments her analysis by drawing on types of sources that
are rarely used, such as scrapbooks, letters and life writing
produced by fans of celebrities. The inclusion of normally
neglected voices adds richness and depth to this work, ensuring it
is more comprehensive than most earlier studies of this intriguing
subject."---Eleanor Fitzsimons, Literary Review
"You don’t have to be into celebrity culture to appreciate this
readable study."---Steven Carroll, Sydney Morning Herald
"I love the book."---Radhika Jones
"In lucid prose, [Marcus] describes celebrity as a drama with three
main characters: celebrities, the public that adores and judges
them, and the media producers who exalt, criticize and satirize . .
. The star of the book is Sarah Bernhardt . . . The book reproduces
a rich trove of archival material which, if it does not bring
Bernhardt back to life, at least reveals the scintillating
liveliness of her image a century ago . . . Spend 200 pages with
Sarah Bernhardt, and Kim Kardashian’s provocations come to seem
less shocking."---Irina Dumitrescu, Times Literary Supplement
"[An] excellent new book . . . Marcus [has] performed a great
service by illuminating the extraordinary gift possessed by [Sarah
Bernhardt]."---Joseph Roach, Los Angeles Review of Books
"The Drama of Celebrity is premised on a fundamental continuity
between Bernhardt’s era and our own, and Marcus is surely right to
contend that the star did much to invent what we now recognize as
celebrity culture."---Ruth Bernard Yeazell, New York Review of
Books
"[S]parky, feisty and compelling . . . . Sharon Marcus’s book is
tour de force and the author a total star."---Jonathan Margolis,
Jewish Chronicle
"Olivia Vinall delivers an engaging narration of Marcus's
exhaustive research on the origins of modern celebrity culture . .
. [her] pace and tone are just right for this fascinating
investigation of celebrity in our media-driven world."
*Audiofile Magazine*
"The book will hold readers’ interest and change their
understanding of the triangular interaction involving celebrities,
media producers and the public."---Richard Weigel, Bowling Green
Daily News
"[In The Drama of Celebrity], Marcus challenges everything that has
been thought about the obsession with fame. Icons are not merely
famous for being famous; the media alone cannot make or break
stars; fans are not simply passive dupes. Instead, journalists, the
public, and celebrities themselves all compete, passionately and
expertly, to shape the stories told about celebrities and fans. The
result: A high-stakes drama as endless as it is unpredictable."
*Society’s Books of Note*
"One of the most widely researched and acutely conceptualized books
that I have had the pleasure to read in recent years."---Nicholas
White, Modern Language Review
"[In The Drama of Celebrity,] Marcus traces a long history of
modern celebrity culture, which she triangulates in negotiations
among stars, fans, and the media. The book is elegantly organized,
with each chapter turning around a key 'configuration' of celebrity
culture—defiance, sensation, intimacy, multiplication, judgment,
and merit—and a key celebrity, the actress Sarah
Bernhardt."---Lauren Eriks Cline, Victorian Literature and
Culture
"Marcus’ core thesis—that celebrity is a process rather than an
individual—is a compelling one in that it challenges the reader to
view fame as a social relationship, one in which we all play a
role, regardless of whether or not we choose to engage with
particular stars."---Andrea McDonnell, Journal of British
Studies
"Marcus’s book is necessary reading for anyone wishing to
understand the workings of celebrity."---Kelly Boyd, Journal of
Victorian Culture
"A serious, sophisticated, and potentially game changing study of
celebrity."---Mary Lynn Stewart, American Historical Review
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