The Frenzy of Renown: Fame & Its History, written by Leo Braudy and published by Vintage Books in 1997, examines the long and multifaceted history of fame. From Alexander the Great to Marilyn Monroe, Braudy's survey explores the relationship between celebrities and their audiences, discusses how and why certain people became famous, and examines how the lives of past celebrities have shaped our own current expectations of what it means to be in the limelight.

Cather's The Song of the Lark was first published in 1915, a year before she published "The Diamond Mine." The novel concerns Thea Kronberg, a woman with exceptional musical talent, who was born into poverty in a small town in Nebraska. Thea is unable to achieve her freedom until the man who loves her and desperately wants to marry her sets her free to pursue a career as...