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Celebrity: How Entertainers Took Over The World and Why We Need an Exit Strategy [Paperback]

Marina Hyde (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 2 April 2009

These days, entertainers no longer just entertain: they advocate dubious 'religions', work for the United Nations, get face-time with heads of state and monopolise problems they are infinitely qualified to solve - problems like Africa, the Middle East, and AIDS.

We stand at the beginning of a bright new chapter in human history. Feast your eyes, then, on Sharon Stone's peace mission to Israel, on a world where Angelina Jolie advises on the Iraqi reconstruction effort or Charlie Sheen analyses 9/11, and in which Jude Law's attempts to establish contact with the Taliban are reported without irony.

Celebrity is a roadmap, a survivalist's guide, a Rosetta Stone for our times: without a copy you are not equipped to engage with the world...

Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Harvill Secker (2 April 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1846552591
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846552595
  • Product Dimensions: 13.6 x 1.9 x 21.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 409,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Marina Hyde Page
Marina Hyde
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Product Description

Review

`frequently hilarious, with incredibly bleak undertones'

Review

`frequently hilarious, with incredibly bleak undertones'
See all Product Description
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Genius 4 April 2009
By Nick Thornton
Format:Paperback
Hilarious. Hyde nails our bizarre elevation of entertainers into UN spokespeople, unqualified medical advisers and pushers of alien religions. Some of the stories seem too extraordinary to be true, but check them out and apparently they are. Madonna hijacking UN headquarters to help Gucci sell handbags, Angelina Jolie allowing Namibia's borders to be shut to journalists so she could give birth, congressional committees calling Elmo from Sesame Street to testify, etc etc. Loved it.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant - wish someone had written this 10 years ago, then we may not be living in such a mad world! 6 April 2009
By Poppy Duncan
Format:Paperback
If you like Marina Hyde's column in The Guardian, you are going to LOVE this. It is hilarious, but rather worryingly the book's entire content is actually 100% true. How on earth have celebrities got away with this kind of stuff for so long?! I can tell you one thing for free, I will NEVER buy a copy of Heat magazine or the like ever again. Celebrities are truly vile and we need to stop them from taking over the world any more than they already have!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Will make you laugh out loud - and seethe with anger! 16 Jun 2009
By Wynne Kelly TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Marina Hyde is young, bright and funny. Having read her weekly columns in The Guardian I more or less knew what to expect from this book.

She is not "anti-celebrity" as such but has over time become enraged by celebrities stepping out from their own sphere into arenas that they really don't know much about. It is the celebs who take on the role of spokesperson for the developing world, weird religions or peace initiatives that are recipients of her wrath. And many of the examples quoted are cringingly terrible. Madonna (sponsored by Gucci) taking over the UN gardens to draw attention to her Malawan charity is in receipt of Marina's opprobrium. And Sharon Stone gets numerous special mentions as she manages to promote both her forthcoming films and peace in the Middle East at the same event! When Angelina Jolie gave Namibia the privilege of being the country in which she gave birth she was actually granted a no-fly zone over the resort she was staying in and was also able to vet the entry visas for visiting journalists!

Over and over again she gives examples of how people willingly indulge celebrities - UN officials, politicians, charity organisers, government officials, TV presenters etc etc. Have we, the public, actually reached the stage of only being able to understand poverty/disease/war/ if it is pointed out to us by someone who is actually an actor, singer or model?
But apart from the neediness of the so-called celebs Marina Hyde also points out that the culture is driven by the tabloid newspapers and gossip magazines. Much of what they print is vicious and cruel - and if no-one bought them a whole industry would die.

Anyone who reads her Guardian columns will not be surprised by the high standard of her writing. She expounds her arguments well and is well armed with facts and figures. This book will make you laugh out loud as well as seethe with anger!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Not Amusing! Moral Panic for the Twittering Classes!
The whole premise that celebrities (read humans) cannot try to make a difference to society because they're entertainers is asinine and the stories used to illustrate the point are... Read more
Published 16 hours ago by Mr. S. Walrond
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, caustic, and thoughtful
This is a very funny and occasionally disturbing look into how the celebrity culture has invaded parts of our lives better left alone. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2010 by J. G. Speck
4.0 out of 5 stars Froth
Celebrity is an extremely well written book about a certain form of status. The author outlines a series of gruesome incidents where celbrities are given key signifiers of a wider... Read more
Published on 25 May 2010 by Chris Purnell
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Marina Hyde is probably the best writer in any British newspaper at the moment. No one can combine pop culture references with works of classical literature in the way she manages... Read more
Published on 29 April 2010 by Dave S Sparrow
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious
Ok not every chapter makes you roll on the floor with laughter, but there are enough that do to make it worth reading.
Published on 22 Jan 2010 by DM
5.0 out of 5 stars Work of genius
Brilliant! If your friday morning is the highlight of your week reading the Lost in Showbiz column in The Guardian you'll love this.
Published on 26 Sep 2009 by Zola Cat
4.0 out of 5 stars "If you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody, come and sit...
If your mouth has ever dropped open in amazement at the latest 'celebrity' scandal / rumour, then this is the book for you. It's bitchy, funny and very intelligent. Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2009 by Nick Sydenham
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny, informative, frightening.
I'm sure that for most who read this book, Hyde will be preaching to the converted. I would still whole-heartedly recommend it to all, whatever your views of celebrities and pop... Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2009 by Al Ussher
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Really funny book which lifts the lid on celeb worship and what really goes on.
Published on 28 May 2009 by David Mcavoy
2.0 out of 5 stars Stool to the left, stool to the right, arse on the floor.
"In a world..." in which the grossly inflated egos of our superstars have broken free of their entertainment-land moorings and are looming large over the news-sphere, Marina Hyde -... Read more
Published on 21 May 2009 by Mooch
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