Star Authors

Joe Moran

Description

In America, authors are as likely to be seen on television talk shows or magazine covers as in the more traditional settings of literary festivals or book signings. Is this literary celebrity just another result of ‘dumbing down’? Yet another example of the mass media turning everything into entertainment? Or is it a much more unstable, complex phenomenon? And what does the American experience tell us about the future of British literary celebrity?



In Star Authors, Joe Moran shows how publishers, the media and authors themselves create and disseminate literary celebrity. He looks at such famous contemporary authors as Toni Morrison, J.D. Salinger, Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, John Updike, Philip Roth, Kathy Acker, Nicholson Baker, Paul Auster and Jay McInerney. Through an examination of their own work, biographical information, media representations and promotional material, Moran illustrates the nature of modern literary celebrity. He argues that authors actively negotiate their own celebrity rather than simply having it imposed upon them – from reclusive authors such as Salinger and Pynchon, famed for their very lack of public engagement, to media-friendly authors such as Updike and McInerney.



Star Authors analyses literary celebrity in the context of the historical links between literature, advertising and publicity in America; the economics of literary production; and the cultural capital involved in the marketing and consumption of books and authors.
1. Introduction: The Charismatic Illusion

Part One: Cultural Contexts



2. Mark Twain Absurdity: Literature and Publicity in America



3. The Reign of Hype: The Contemporary Star System



4. Disembodied Images: Authors, Authorship and Celebrity

Part Two: Star Authors



5. The Scribe of Suburbia: John Updike



6. Reality Shift: Philip Roth



7. Silence, Exile, Cunning and So On: Don DeLillo



8. A Star of Bohemia: Kathy Acker



9. Conclusion: A ‘Meet the Author’ Culture

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• USA
• United States of America
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 février 2000
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849645256
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Star Auth o rs

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Jo eMo ran

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assert edb yh imin accord an cewit ht h eCo p yrigh t ,Design s an dPat en t sAct 1988.

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In clu d es b ib lio grap h ical referen ces.
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1. American literat u re–20t hcen t u ry–Hist o ryan dcrit icism .2, Aut h o rsan d
read ers-Un it edSt at es–Hist o ry–20t hcen t u ry.3. Pop u larcu lt u re–Un it ed
St at es–Hist o ry–20t hcen t u ry.4. Acker, Kath y,1948–Ap p reciat io n –Un it ed
St at es.5. DeLillo, Don –Ap p reciat io n –Un it edSt at es.6 .Up d ike,Jo h n –
Ap p reciat io n –Un it edSt at es.7. Rot h ,Ph ilip –Ap p reciat io n –Un it edSt at es.8.
Celeb rit ies–Un it edSt at es.9. Cano n(Lit erat u re)1. Title.

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Disclaimer:
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Co nt ent s

Acknowledgem ents

1 Int ro d u ct io n :Th eCh arism at icIllu sio n

Part One: Cultu ralCo n tex ts

2
3
4

Mark Twain Absu rd it y:Lit erat u rean dPu b licit yin America
Th eReign of Hype: Th e Con t em p o rarySt arSyst em
Disem b o d iedIm ages: Au t h o rs, Au t h o rsh ipan dCeleb rit y

Part Two :Star Auth o rs

5
6
7
8

Th eScrib eo fSu b u rb ia:Jo h nUp d ike
Realit ySh ift :Ph ilipRo t h
Silen ce,Exile, Cun n in gan dSo On : Do nDeLillo
A St ar o f Bo h em ia: Kat h y Acker

9 Con clu sio n : A ‘Meett h eAu t h o r’ Cu lt u re
No t es
In d ex

v ii

1

1 5
3 5
5 8

8 3
1 0 0
1 1 6
1 3 2

1 4 9
1 6 2
1 8 1

Ackn owled gemen ts

Th is b o o kb eganlife as a do ct o ralt h esisat th eUn iversit yo fSu ssexan dit
is a pleasu ret ot h an km y su p erviso r, St ep h enFen d er, fo r all h is ad vice an d
en co u ragem en t . I wo u ldalso like to th an k Ro ss Dawso n , Geo ff Hem st ed t ,
Mich ael Mo ran , W inMo ran ,Do u glasTallack an d m y edit o r,An n e Beech ,
fo rm an yh elp fu lco m m en t san dsu ggest io n s.So m eb riefsect io n so ft h is
b o o kfirst app earedin very differen tfo rmin th eJournal of Am erican Studies
(vo l.29, n o. 3 (Decem ber 1995)),Media, Culture and Society(vo l.19, n o. 3
(Ju ly1997)) and th eInternational Journal of Cultural Studies(vo l.o .1, n1
(Ap ril1998)), and I am gratefu lt oCam b rid geUn iversit yPress and Sage
Pu b licat io n sfo rp erm issio nt orep u b lish .Th isb o o kis for mu man dd ad ,
wit hlo vean dt h an ks.

v i

1
In tro d u ct io n: The Charism atic
Illu sio n

Th ere is n oavoid in gau th ors incon tem p orary Am ericancu ltu re.Th e books
an dart ssect io n so fn ew sp ap ersan dm agazin esare filled wit hau t h o
rin terviews an dp rofiles an dfeatu res abou tth em ; th ey cropu pon talk shows
an do t h ert elevisio np ro gram m es,as well as info m ercialsan dsh o p p in g
ch an n els; t h eyd rawau d ien cest oread in gs,lect u res,sign in gs,b o o kfairs,
lit eraryfest ivals,p u b licd eb at esan dwrit ers’ co n feren ces.Asid efro mt h ese
co n cret eap p earan ces,t h eyalso circulat ein a mo ren eb u lo u ssp h ereo f
go ssipan dru m o u r,as th e m ed iarep ro d u cesp ecu lat io nabo u tt h eirp rivat e
lives, peer-gro u privalries and millio n -d o llarp u b lish in gd eals,ru nart
icles abo u twh eret osp o tt h em o stfash io n ab lelit eraryceleb rit iesaro u n d
t o wnan dp ro d u ceh elp fu l ch art s fo rread ersran kin gwrit ersacco rd in gt o
1
t h eirst at u san dvisib ilit y,revealin gwh ichare ‘in’ an dwh ichare ‘ou t ’.
W h atis goin g o nh ere, int h iscu lt u rein which , as o n e co m m en t at o r p u t s
it ,‘No b ellau reat esin literat u regive th eirrecip est ot h eNew YorkTim es
2
livin g sect io n ’?If celebrit yau t h o rsh ard ly rival t h eir co u n t erp art s infilm ,
t elevisio nan dp o p u larm u sicfo rco lu m nin ch es,t h eyare still a
significan tcu lt u ralp h en o m en o n ,o n ewell wort hexam in in gcrit ically.
Th isb o o kis abo u tt h isp h en o m en o no flit eraryceleb rit y– ho wit is
p rod u cedan dd issem in ated ,wh atkin d s of m ean in gs are attach edto it, and
h o wceleb rit yau t h o rst h em selvesh avegrap p ledwit han dad d edt ot h ese
m ean in gs int h eirwo rk.Ab o veall, I wan t to challen get h eway th eem
ergen ceo flit eraryceleb rit yis mo stco m m o n lyexp lain ed– int erm so ft h e
vu lgarizat io no flit erarylife by com m ercial m ass m ed ia inAm erica. Int h is
argu m en t ,co n t em p o rarylit eraryfam e b eco m es p arto ft h eo verallp
ervasiven esso f‘en t ert ain m en tceleb rit y’(an yfam elin kedt ot h esp h ereo f
p o p u larcu lt u re)wh ichis seenas ‘anim p erialistp h en o m en o n ,m o vin g

1

2

St arAu t h o rs

3
in t on ewaren asan dm akin gt h emo verin its own image’. More
specifically, it is lin ked to th e u b iq u it y o f m ed iaim ages inco n t em p o rarycu lt u re
an da new emp h asiso nm erevisib ilit yo rn o t o riet yas a sou rceo ffam e.
Th isrecalls Daniel Boo rst in ’ssem in ald efin it io no ft h eceleb rit yas bein g
sim p ly‘well-known forhis well-knownnessh u m anp seu d o -even t ’,a... th e
p ern icio u slyart ificialfigu rep ro d u cedb yt h ein flu en ceo fm ass m ed iao n
Am ericancu lt u rean dso ciet y.Acco rd in gt oBo o rst in ,‘t h est arsyst emh as
reach edfar beyo n dt h em o vies. W h erever itreach es itco n fu sest rad it io n al
form s of ach ievem en t. Itfocu ses onth e p erson ality rath er th anon the work.
It pu t sa prem iu mo nwell-kn o w n n essfo rit so wnsake’. He no t es,fo r
ex am p le,t h ew ayin wh ich‘t h eAm ericanp u b lish in gscen eh asb een
d o m in at edb ya few stars ... wh o h ave pro sp eredas aut h o rsp art lyb ecau se
4
t h eyco u ldb et o u t edas “perso n alit ies”’.
Like Boo rst in ’sd ist in ct io nb et weent h et rad it io n alfigu reo ft h e‘h ero ’
an dt h eco n t em p o rary‘celeb rit y’– th efo rm erb ein g‘a big man ’ an dt h e
5
lat t ersim p ly‘a big nam e’– mu cho ft h eexist in gd iscu ssio no flit erary
celeb rit yis injerem iad icvein ,o p p o sin gt h eh yp ean dp u b licit yo fceleb
rit yt oan earlier,p u rerfo rmo fd eservedfam e. AN ewsweekart iclet h efro m
1980s – a tim e o f fran t ic b u yo u t s o f p u b lish in g firm s an dt h ein t ro d u ct io n
o fso p h ist icat edn ewm arket in g t ech n iq u es in t ot h eb o o kin d u st ry – p u tit
in th eset erm s:

O p enju stab o u tan y m agazin e t o d ay, t u rno nan y t alk sh o w, an dyo u ’ll
fin da writer ho ld in gfo rt h... on where he gets his ideas, what he eats
fo rb reakfastan d ,o fco u rse,t h est at eo ft h eAm ericann o vel.Im agin e
wh atHerm anMelville ... wou ldh avet h o u gh to fJerzy Kosin skih
alfn akedo nt h eco vero ft h ees MagazineN ewYork Tim... Wh eh atwo u ld
h avem ad eo fJo h nIrvin gscan t ilyclad in wrestler’s briefs to advert ise
t h en ewm agazin eVanity Fairo m? ... Melville, whan average oad ef
$1,600 a year at his writin g p eak an dwas th erefo re o n e o f t h e b est -p aid
au t h o rso fh is d ay, m igh tfin dit hard to credit th evast sum s o f m o n ey
t h atn o wflo wt o wardwrit erswh o sefaces flashacro sst h eco u n t ryo n
t h eco verso fn at io n alm agazin esan dwh o seim agesen t erAm erica’s
6
livin gro o m svia cath o d e-rayt u b es.

Th isd escen sio nn arra t ive,co n t ra st in g‘serio u s’lit era t u rew it ht h e
frivo lo u s,t it illa t in ga ge n d ao ft h em ed iaa n dt h ed isp o sa b ilit yo f
co n su m ercu lt u re,is reitera t edin aca d em iccu lt u ra lcrit icism .Jo h n
C a w elt i,fo rexam p le,m akesa clear dist in ct io nb et weenlit erary‘fam e’
an dco n t em p o rarylit erary‘celeb rit y’:

In t ro d u ct io n :Th eCh arism at icIllu sio n

3

Th e testof artistic fam e is th at on e’s word s or im ages rem ainin the m in ds
o fm en ; t h e t esto fceleb rit yis bein g fo llo wedeverywh ere b ya ph o t o
grap h er... Th e object of celebrity is th e p erso n ; t h e o bjecto ffam e is so m e
7
acco m p lish m en t ,act io n ,o rcreat ivewo rk.

Alan Spiegel sim ilarly agrees th at th e turn in g of con tem p orary au th ors in to
p u b liccu rio sit iesserves th emu pas part of th em ean in gless ep h em erao f
co n su m erism :

Celeb rit ywat ch in gis still on eo ft h iscu lt u re’sm o stefficien tan t id o t es
t ot h ep o iso no fd eadt im ein a leisure econ o m y; o u rn at io n al p ast im e
o fco n vert in gan artist int oa screen star wh ile draggin g h is artalo n gas
a stan d -inis th ecu st o m aryp riceserio u swo rku su allyp aysfo rp erm
is8
sio nt oleave th ecell of th esp ecialistan den t ert h em arket p lace.

Th ese com m en ts seemto tap into general an xieties inpostm odern , m ediatized
cu lt u reab o u tt h erep lacem en to ft h e‘real’ with surface image, and th e
su b seq u en tb lu rrin go fb o u n d ariesb et weenrealit yan dfict io n ,p u b lican d
p rivat e,h ighan dlo wcu lt u re.
It is po ssib le,t h o u gh ,t och allen ge t h is n arrat ive fro mt wop ersp ect ives.
First ,it sview of m ass cult u recan be seen as to ou n ifo rm lyh o st ile: crit ical
d iscu ssio n so fm ain st r