Celebrity is the defining issue of late twentieth-century America. In recent years, much has been made and written of the rise of contemporary celebrity culture in the United States. Writers, thinkers, and pundits alike warn us of the danger of our societal obsession with celebrity, even as more and more Americans tune into Hard Copy and buy People magazine. Andy Warhol's cynical prediction that everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes has virtually become a national rallying cry as television airwaves overflow with venues for every-one's opportunity to appear in the spotlight. The more that is written about fame, the less shocked we become. That's the way things are, we seem to say, so why not grab our moment in the sun?

Fame, of course, is nothing new. In his comprehensive volume The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History, Leo Braudy has traced man's desire for recognition...