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The Importance of Being Famous Behind the Scenes
The following report compares books using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine).
Rating: 3.8/5 from 20 reviews God bless Maureen OrthDon't Be Fooled -- This a Collection of Vanity Fair ArticlesShe's a great writer, but if you read Vanity Fair, YOU HAVE READ THIS ALL BEFORE! The publisher should be ASHAMED of how they marketed this book, suggesting it is a comprehensive original piece of writing about a very interesting subject -- when in fact, it is a collection of Orth's previously written pieces. What a rip off. I'm returning my copy because the book is not what it suggests it is. (And some of the articles profile poeple we SERIOUSLY no longer care about, or about whom so much has already been written (Michael Jackson, Laci Peterson) that the articles seem seriously dated. She's married to Tim Russert whose own book just hit the new york times best seller list, so they will not be hurting for money. Take a pass on this book. Maureen, use your considerable talent and write a book instead of publishing a collection of tired pieces that ran elsewhere. (Does anyone REALLY care about Tina Turner some 10 YEARS after her book and the subsequent movie was released???) Orth is a compelling writer and I love reading her work in Vanity Fair. I expected more..... Our Culture Isn'tI loved the phrase coined by Orth, " The Celebrity-Industrial Complex. " Note that media news are now 24/7, talking heads proliferate on TV and the quickest way of getting your leg broken is to get between a camera and Gloria Allred. We do know, don't we, that if every celebrity on the planet were to die tomorrow 'The Complex' would replace them with a new crop by next week? There's no way The Enquirer is going out of business. For that matter, the author notes that the trend is catching and irreversible: " One need not look further than PAGE ONE of the distinguished New York Times to see how far celebrity coverage has come . . it has featured such previously unthinkable stories about the deaths of singers Aailayah and Celia Cruz, not to mention the mauling of Las Vegas liontamer Roy...and an analysis of the career of Britney Spears. " I don'tunderstand the negative reviews, unless they were expecting a 'how to ' achieve fame book, or, as implied, they've read all Vanity Fair articles for the last ten years between memorizing The Summa Theologica and The Encyclopedia Brittanica. Whatever. Now name a better critique on our pop-culture. For my money, " Bobos in Paradise " is excellent but it's not in the same ballpark. BTW, have you notied that when Columbine, 9/11 or other major public tragedies occur that reporters, when commenting on the bravery of some of the victims or rescuers involved, inevitably mention something to the effect that these were ordinary people who acted with extraordinary valor due to extreme circumstances? Why doesn't anyone hazard the opinion that these were extraordianry individuals who acted with characteristic valor and decency under extreme circumstances? Gee, could it be that by "ordinary" we DO NOT mean that they weren't Mozart or Einstein. Could we mean that what we're really saying is that they were firefighters or schoolteachers instead of Pop-Celebs? Almost non-persons. Oh, yes, I forgot, there's a word for them: Nobodies. God, or somebody , help us! Outstanding book. As funny as it is painful. | ||||||||||||||||||||
I started reading, and by page 23, I was almost in tears, so grateful that Ms. Orth has the clarity, courage, and gorgeous writing skills to proclaim the emperor naked. It takes Great Big Ones to buck the established media, of which she's a respected member (I've always loved her Vanity Fair pieces), and she's got them. Finally, someone willing to write about how the "news" gets so distorted, and how the rest of the media, knowing they're being manipulated, just pile on, ignoring the fact that THERE IS NO STORY THERE!!! Gertrude Stein would be proud.
Plus, I have the same sunglasses as the model on the cover.
Seriously, this is a smashing read, just wonderful. I already don't want to finish it, but I know I'll do it, and quickly, because Maureen Orth's writing and reportorial skills, as well as her blessedly vital and straightforward take on what's going on, make me feel like I'm breathing sweet air after a deadly rainstorm.
Do it again, M. O.