Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction

by Jake Halpern

Book Overview

Why do more people watch American Idol than the nightly news? What is it about Paris Hilton's dating life that lures us so? Why do teenage girls -- when given the option of "pressing a magic button and becoming either stronger, smarter, famous, or more beautiful" -- predominantly opt for fame? In this entertaining and enlightening book, Jake Halpern explores the fascinating and often dark implications of America's obsession with fame. He travels...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 061891871X
• ISBN13: 9780618918713
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

compelling stories on a timely topic

I loved this book and finished it within days ... even though I have a young baby and not much time! Reading Fame Junkies allows you to be a fly on the wall in all kinds of interesting places, from modeling & talent conventions to the Hollywood apartment complex where hopeful child would-be-stars live with their parents. The book is really a collection of fascinating stories. This is journalism at its best; Halpern gets his subjects to say all kinds of funny and (sometimes unknowingly) insightful things. My favorite: Halpern asks one guy so many questions that he finally snaps, "Where are you from, kid -- Buffalo?" Of course, Halpern *is* from Buffalo. And the topic could not be more timely: large percentages of young people long for fame, and value being a celebrity over many more worthwhile things like being a leader in their community or being the CEO of a company. After all, we live in a world where kids are constantly told they can "be anything" and are "special." Many of them want to be celebrities, though it's hard to imagine why. So the book is a cautionary tale as well -- we need to think of a way to stop the fame obsession before it gets any worse.

A must read book!

This is a terrific ,intelligently written exploration of our fame obsessed culture...Entertaining, engaging book that was simply hard to put down. I am a psychiatric nurse, and I really enjoyed authors' use of newer psychological theories to explain the fenomena of fame obsession.I am passing this book to my friends at work.

One of the best non-fiction books in years

I picked this book up after seeing the long ABC 20/20 segment on it and was hooked within minutes. Jake Halpern unveils the strange and wild obsessions people have with fame. I read his previous book, Braving Home, as well, and immensely enjoyed his writing style. Just like Braving Home, Fame Junkies is a rollicking good read, with compelling characters, situations and insights. I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.

A must read for parents....................

This book presents a shocking commentary about our celebrity obsessed culture and the ramifications for our children. This preoccuption is not benign but one that should be understood. Fame Junkies opens an insightful window on the world that we rarely step back to examine.

A Must Read for the Famous, Near Famous, and those who just want to be Near the Famous

An outstanding critique of the celebrity-obsessed subculture that has permeated American life, with some sobering thoughts about why so many people, especially teen-aged girls, have lost their focus on what is real, what is important, and what is really important. This book brings to mind the old Roman proverb about the necessity of providing the masses with "bread and circuses". A must read for every student of modern American culture and sociology. Parents of teenage children should also peruse this book, if for no other reason than to understand why their daughters prefer People magazine to Scientific American, and their sons watch professional wrestling rather than the evening news.