The Drama of Celebrity by Sharon Marcus

In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame.

Drawing on scrapbooks, personal diaries, and vintage fan mail, Marcus traces celebrity culture back to its nineteenth-century roots, when people the world over found themselves captivated by celebrity chefs, bad-boy poets, and actors.

Whether you love celebrity culture or hate it, The Drama of Celebrity will change how you think about one of the most important phenomena of modern times.

About the Author:

Sharon Marcus teaches at Columbia University, where she is the Orlando Harriman Professor of English and Comparative Literature, specializing in nineteenth-century British and French culture.

Alan Stewart, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Department Chair, joined Columbia in 2003, after teaching for ten years at Queen Mary, and Birkbeck, both University of London.

Alisa Solomon directs the Arts & Culture concentration in the M.A. program, teaching its core seminar as well as an array of M.S. courses; among them, Ethics, Reporting, Criticism workshop.

Arianne Chernock’s research focuses on modern British and European history, with an emphasis on gender, culture, politics, and the monarchy.

Elisabeth Ladenson is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, and General Editor of Romanic Review.