{"product_id":"celebrity-nation-how-america-evolved-into-a-culture-of-fans-and-followers-paperback","title":"Celebrity Nation: How America Evolved Into a Culture of Fans and Followers - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLandon Y. Jones\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA former \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e magazine editor reveals how our cult of celebrity has shaped our politics, our culture, and our personal lives--for better or worse\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the writer and editor who coined the term \"baby boomer\" comes \u003ci\u003eCelebrity Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ean exploration into how and why fame no longer stems only from heroic achievements but from the number of \"likes\" and shares--and what this change means for American culture. Landon Jones--who spent decades in \"celebrityland\" only to emerge, like Alice, blinking in the sunlight--brings a personal and first-person perspective on fame and its dark underbelly, complicated even further by the arrival of the internet and social media. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Jones draws on his experience as the former managing editor of \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e magazine to bolster his account with profiles of celebrities he knew personally, ranging from Malcolm X to Princess Diana, as well as observations about contemporary social media stars like Kim Kardashian and computer-generated macro-influencer Miquela, a self-proclaimed \"19-year-old Robot living in LA.\" In analyzing the stories of over 75 celebrities, spanning decades and industries, Jones shows how celebrity has been wielded as a weapon of mass distraction to spawn narcissism, harm, and loneliness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e And yet, in these stories we also see a path forward. Jones highlights luminaries like Nobel Peace prize winner Maria Ressa and lauded environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who have effected meaningful change not by glorifying themselves but by turning to their communities for action. A lively analysis of celebrity culture's impact on nearly every facet of our lives, \u003ci\u003eCelebrity Nation\u003c\/i\u003e helps us to recognize how the apparatus of fame operates.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLandon Y. (Lanny) Jones\u003c\/b\u003e is an editor and author. He is the former managing editor of \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMoney \u003c\/i\u003emagazines and the author of \u003ci\u003eWilliam Clark and the Shaping of the West \u003c\/i\u003e(2004), a biography of the co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jones also edited a selection of the expedition journals, \u003ci\u003eThe Essential Lewis and Clark \u003c\/i\u003e(2000)\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e In 1980, he published \u003ci\u003eGreat Expectations: America and the Baby Boom Generation\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ewhich coined the phrase \"baby-boomer\" and was a finalist for the American Book Award in Nonfiction. In 2015, he received the Henry R. Luce Award for Lifetime Achievement from Time Inc. He is from St. Louis, Missouri, and currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 216\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 8.2 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 13, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42696137965631,"sku":"9780807093429","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/3bf1818eee98610a9fa9b6f8b9b151f6.webp?v=1765006333","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/celebrity-nation-how-america-evolved-into-a-culture-of-fans-and-followers-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}