Sixteenth Minute: Life in the Aftermath of Fame

by Jeff Guinn, Douglas Perry, Jeff Guinn Douglas Perry

Book Overview

This fascinating examination of American celebrity asks, What happens when your 15 minutes of fame are over? This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0739455427
• ISBN13: 9780739455425
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Tarcher, J P
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Surfing in the wake of fame

This is a fascinating look into what happens to people who become famous and then lose the media attention and perks. I thought I knew about a lot of the former celebrities the book uses to explore life "in the aftermath of fame," but this book shows that what's widely believed about celebrities is usually only half the story. I thought for example that Susan McDougal went to prison rather than tell all she knew about President Clinton, but the truth is actually far more complicated than that. I didn't know anything about a few of the subjects, like baseball player Maury Wills and boxer Gerry Cooney, and this book offers vivid portraits that serve as excellent introduction. The story that's most fascinating is Melvin Dummar's. He's the guy who says he picked up Howard Hughes in the desert and that's why he was included in Hughes' purported will. Dummar's faith that fame alone would make his life better is sad and poignant, especially since that's what so many people think today about fame. The Sixteenth Minute is very well written, with compassion and humor, and tells a lot about how our expectations for celebrity in this media age are totally out of whack.