Celebrities – serie

This absorbing book unravels the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his athletic career. It will appeal to those teaching and studying cultural studies, social theory, sports studies, and sociology, as well as to general readers interested in Muhammad Ali. A probing account of Muhammad Ali’s life, which also examines the man’s celebrity and his importance in global history. The first book to unravel the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his athletic career. Traces the key controversies and significant events, from Ali's first announcement of his membership in the Nation of Islam, through his courageous refusal to fight in Vietnam, to his spiritual calm in the face of crippling disease. Offers an original and compelling theory of the celebrity in postmodern society.

This absorbing book unravels the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his athletic career. It will appeal to those teaching and studying cultural studies, social theory, sports studies, and sociology, as well as to general readers interested in Muhammad Ali. A probing account of Muhammad Ali’s life, which also examines the man’s celebrity and his importance in global history. The first book to unravel the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his athletic career. Traces the key controversies and significant events, from Ali's first announcement of his membership in the Nation of Islam, through his courageous refusal to fight in Vietnam, to his spiritual calm in the face of crippling disease. Offers an original and compelling theory of the celebrity in postmodern society.

David Bowie is a global superstar. One of the most extraordinary icons of our times, Bowies career spans five decades of popular music. From his first recordings in the sixties, through the invented characters of the seventies (Ziggy Stardust, Aladin Sane and The Thin White Duke), to the stadium rock of the eighties and attempts to recapture his creativity in more recent times, David Bowie has inspired millions of followers and fans the world over. This culturally sensitive re-reading of the life, image and music of David Bowie offers a detailed understanding of his importance to modern times. The story of David Bowie involves questions of comodification, youth culture, history, individualisation, racism and gender and sexual politics. Yet this is also a tale of ambiguity and pleasurable confusion. Among the many talents of David Bowie has been his ability to capture through popular culture key contradictions of the modern era. Through the interpretation of images, music, text and interviews with many Bowie fans this book seeks to unravel some of the mystery that continues to surround the bohemian prince of pop.Nick Stevenson has written a sympathetic and critical study of one of the enduring stars of popular music. David Bowie is a subtle and accessible exploration of the complex cultures of celebrity.This text will appeal to those teaching and studying cultural and media studies, visual culture, sociology and popular culture, as well as to general readers interested in David Bowie.

David Bowie is a global superstar. One of the most extraordinary icons of our times, Bowies career spans five decades of popular music. From his first recordings in the sixties, through the invented characters of the seventies (Ziggy Stardust, Aladin Sane and The Thin White Duke), to the stadium rock of the eighties and attempts to recapture his creativity in more recent times, David Bowie has inspired millions of followers and fans the world over. This culturally sensitive re-reading of the life, image and music of David Bowie offers a detailed understanding of his importance to modern times. The story of David Bowie involves questions of comodification, youth culture, history, individualisation, racism and gender and sexual politics. Yet this is also a tale of ambiguity and pleasurable confusion. Among the many talents of David Bowie has been his ability to capture through popular culture key contradictions of the modern era. Through the interpretation of images, music, text and interviews with many Bowie fans this book seeks to unravel some of the mystery that continues to surround the bohemian prince of pop.Nick Stevenson has written a sympathetic and critical study of one of the enduring stars of popular music. David Bowie is a subtle and accessible exploration of the complex cultures of celebrity.This text will appeal to those teaching and studying cultural and media studies, visual culture, sociology and popular culture, as well as to general readers interested in David Bowie.

Beast. Monster. Savage. Psycho. The glowering menace of Mike Tyson has spooked us for almost two decades. And still we remain fascinated. Why? Ellis Cashmore's answer is disturbing: white society has created Tyson as vengeance for the loss of privilege produced by civil rights. Cashmore's eviscerating analysis of Tyson's life and the culture in which he grew up, rose to prominence and descended into disgrace provokes the reader into re-thinking the role of one of the most controversial and infamous figures of recent history. Told as an odyssey-style homeward journey to Tyson's multi-pathological origins in the racially-explosive ghettos of the 1960s, Tyson's story is part biography, part tragedy and part exposition. His associations with people like Al Sharpton, Don King and Tupac Shakur shaped his life; and events, such as the O J Simpson trial and the Rodney King riots, formed a turbulent background for the Tyson psychodrama. Over the course of an epic boxing career, Tyson was transformed from the most celebrated athlete on earth to a primal, malevolent hate-figure. Yet, even after being condemned as a brute, Tyson retained a power - a power to captivate. Cashmore reveals that the sources of that power lie as much in us as in Tyson himself.

Is Bob Marley the only third world superstar? How did he achieve this unique status? In this captivating new study of one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, Jason Toynbee sheds new light on issues such as Marley's contribution as a musician and public intellectual, how he was granted access to the global media system, and what his music means in cultural and political terms.Tracing Marley's life and work from Jamaica to the world stage, Toynbee suggests that we need to understand Marley first and foremost as a 'social author'. Trained in the co-operative yet also highly competitive musical laboratory of downtown Kingston, Marley went on to translate reggae into a successful international style. His crowning achievement was to mix postcolonial anger and hope with Jamaican textures and beats to produce the first world music.However the period since his death has been marked by brutal and intensifying inequality in the capitalist world system. There is an urgent need, then, to reconsider the nature of his legacy. Toynbee does this in the concluding chapters, weighing Marley's impact as advocate of human emancipation against his marginalisation as a 'Natural Mystic' and pretext for disengagement from radical politics.

Is Bob Marley the only third world superstar? How did he achieve this unique status? In this captivating new study of one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, Jason Toynbee sheds new light on issues such as Marley's contribution as a musician and public intellectual, how he was granted access to the global media system, and what his music means in cultural and political terms.Tracing Marley's life and work from Jamaica to the world stage, Toynbee suggests that we need to understand Marley first and foremost as a 'social author'. Trained in the co-operative yet also highly competitive musical laboratory of downtown Kingston, Marley went on to translate reggae into a successful international style. His crowning achievement was to mix postcolonial anger and hope with Jamaican textures and beats to produce the first world music.However the period since his death has been marked by brutal and intensifying inequality in the capitalist world system. There is an urgent need, then, to reconsider the nature of his legacy. Toynbee does this in the concluding chapters, weighing Marley's impact as advocate of human emancipation against his marginalisation as a 'Natural Mystic' and pretext for disengagement from radical politics.

Frank Sinatra was only one of a handful of popular entertainers who dominated Western popular culture for six decades. From his early fame as 'the Voice' in the early 1940s, through to the high rolling, fast living 'Rat Pack' era, to the protracted Lear-like farewell tours of his twilight years, Sinatra was the epitome of cool. This compelling, consistently insightful book portrays Sinatra in his many contradictory hues of ambition, generosity, menace and vituperation. The book asks why Sinatra's public character which mixed insufferable hauteur with soapy populism and nobility with the lowest kind of vindictive violence proved so enduring with the Western public? What model of masculinity was Sinatra projecting? Why did his recordings, concert performances and film work persuade audiences that he was really talking to them alone? What does his career tell us about the relationship between celebrity and popular culture? Sinatra may not have found his Boswell with this study, but our understanding of him will never be the same again. Rojek's is the first book to take Sinatra's cultural significance seriously. It is a landmark work in our understanding of celebrity and popular culture. The book will be of interest to students of Cultural, Media and Communication Studies, Sociology and, most of all, anyone who has bought a Sinatra recording or seen a Sinatra film.

Frank Sinatra was only one of a handful of popular entertainers who dominated Western popular culture for six decades. From his early fame as 'the Voice' in the early 1940s, through to the high rolling, fast living 'Rat Pack' era, to the protracted Lear-like farewell tours of his twilight years, Sinatra was the epitome of cool. This compelling, consistently insightful book portrays Sinatra in his many contradictory hues of ambition, generosity, menace and vituperation. The book asks why Sinatra's public character which mixed insufferable hauteur with soapy populism and nobility with the lowest kind of vindictive violence proved so enduring with the Western public? What model of masculinity was Sinatra projecting? Why did his recordings, concert performances and film work persuade audiences that he was really talking to them alone? What does his career tell us about the relationship between celebrity and popular culture? Sinatra may not have found his Boswell with this study, but our understanding of him will never be the same again. Rojek's is the first book to take Sinatra's cultural significance seriously. It is a landmark work in our understanding of celebrity and popular culture. The book will be of interest to students of Cultural, Media and Communication Studies, Sociology and, most of all, anyone who has bought a Sinatra recording or seen a Sinatra film.

Gore Vidal's AmericaGore Vidal is one of the most significant American writers of the second half of the twentieth century, having produced a large number of best selling novels, essays, plays and pamphlets which have impacted on major political and social debates for fifty years. He is both a serious writer and a television and movie celebrity, whose increasingly acerbic picture of the United States guarantees he is both revered and reviled.Gore Vidal's America examines the ways in which Vidal's writings on history, politics, sex and religion throw into focus our understandings of the United States, but also recognizes his versatility and inventiveness as a creative writer, some of whose novels - Julian; Myra Breckinridge; Lincoln; Duluth - are among the important literary works of their time.Ranging from Vidal's early defence of homosexuality in The City and the Pillar (1948) to his most recent writings on the war in Iraq, this book provides a unique perspective on the evolution of post-World War II American society, politics and literature. As Altman writes: "Difficult not to see in the results of the 2004 elections, where the Republican right gained in both the White House and the Senate, proof of Vidal's worse fears, namely that the impact of imperial adventure, big money and religious moralism would increasingly imperil the American Republic."

Gore Vidal's AmericaGore Vidal is one of the most significant American writers of the second half of the twentieth century, having produced a large number of best selling novels, essays, plays and pamphlets which have impacted on major political and social debates for fifty years. He is both a serious writer and a television and movie celebrity, whose increasingly acerbic picture of the United States guarantees he is both revered and reviled.Gore Vidal's America examines the ways in which Vidal's writings on history, politics, sex and religion throw into focus our understandings of the United States, but also recognizes his versatility and inventiveness as a creative writer, some of whose novels - Julian; Myra Breckinridge; Lincoln; Duluth - are among the important literary works of their time.Ranging from Vidal's early defence of homosexuality in The City and the Pillar (1948) to his most recent writings on the war in Iraq, this book provides a unique perspective on the evolution of post-World War II American society, politics and literature. As Altman writes: "Difficult not to see in the results of the 2004 elections, where the Republican right gained in both the White House and the Senate, proof of Vidal's worse fears, namely that the impact of imperial adventure, big money and religious moralism would increasingly imperil the American Republic."

The Beckham enigma continues. Since the publication of Cashmore’s challenging social biography in 2003, the working-class kid from the East London has left Manchester and conquered the world. Undisputedly one of the world’s most famous men, Beckham has transcended sport to become an all-purpose cultural icon for the twenty-first century.What are the sources of Beckham’s godlike status? Why does someone who looks good, but speaks in platitudes and does little but play football, command the adulation of the planet? By dissecting his life and setting it in context of the age of celebrity, Cashmore argues that Beckham has been turned into a product, a commodity that can be bought and sold like any other piece of merchandise. There is not just a person named Beckham: there are countless Beckhams that exist independently of time and space, constructions of peoples’ imaginations. The second edition of Beckham updates the original’s arguments, covering the events that have shaped the Beckham phenomenon: the Flying Boot that symbolized the growing disquiet at Manchester United, the replacement of his first agents SFX with Simon Fuller (the creator of Pop Idol), the failed attempt to capture a US market, the growing presence of adidas, the sportswear giants, and the transfer saga that took Beckham to Madrid – and his influence beyond. Among the other features of the second edition are chapters on: Manchester United, the club that provided Beckham with his first showcase; Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of British football; Beckham’s ambiguous sexual image and his gay following; the importance of Madonna in kick-starting the age of celebrity in which Beckham prospered; Beckham’s curious relationships with the legacy of Warhol. Completely revised and updated, the new text emphasizes the often overlooked part played by Victoria in the making of the icon and the guile with which she helped plan an enterprise that had no precedents.

The Beckham enigma continues. Since the publication of Cashmore’s challenging social biography in 2003, the working-class kid from the East London has left Manchester and conquered the world. Undisputedly one of the world’s most famous men, Beckham has transcended sport to become an all-purpose cultural icon for the twenty-first century.What are the sources of Beckham’s godlike status? Why does someone who looks good, but speaks in platitudes and does little but play football, command the adulation of the planet? By dissecting his life and setting it in context of the age of celebrity, Cashmore argues that Beckham has been turned into a product, a commodity that can be bought and sold like any other piece of merchandise. There is not just a person named Beckham: there are countless Beckhams that exist independently of time and space, constructions of peoples’ imaginations. The second edition of Beckham updates the original’s arguments, covering the events that have shaped the Beckham phenomenon: the Flying Boot that symbolized the growing disquiet at Manchester United, the replacement of his first agents SFX with Simon Fuller (the creator of Pop Idol), the failed attempt to capture a US market, the growing presence of adidas, the sportswear giants, and the transfer saga that took Beckham to Madrid – and his influence beyond. Among the other features of the second edition are chapters on: Manchester United, the club that provided Beckham with his first showcase; Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of British football; Beckham’s ambiguous sexual image and his gay following; the importance of Madonna in kick-starting the age of celebrity in which Beckham prospered; Beckham’s curious relationships with the legacy of Warhol. Completely revised and updated, the new text emphasizes the often overlooked part played by Victoria in the making of the icon and the guile with which she helped plan an enterprise that had no precedents.

Bob Dylan’s contribution to popular music is immeasurable. Venerated as rock’s one true genius, Dylan is considered responsible for introducing a new range of topics and new lyrical complexity into popular music. Without Bob Dylan, rock critic Dave Marsh once claimed, there would be no popular music as we understand it today. As such an exalted figure, Dylan has been the subject of countless books and intricate scholarship considering various dimensions of both the man and his music. This book places new emphasis on Dylan as a rock star. Whatever else Dylan is, he is a star – iconic, charismatic, legendary, enigmatic. No one else in popular music has maintained such star status for so long a period of time.Showing how theories of stardom can help us understand both Bob Dylan and the history of rock music, Lee Marshall provides new insight into how Dylan’s songs acquire meaning and affects his relationship with his fans, his critics and the recording industry. Marshall discusses Dylan’s emergence as a star in the folk revival (the “spokesman for a generation”) and the formative role that Dylan plays in creating a new type of music – rock – and a new type of star. Bringing the book right up to date, he also sheds new light on how Dylan’s later career has been shaped by his earlier star image and how Dylan repeatedly tried to throw off the limitations and responsibilities of his stardom. The book concludes by considering the revival of Dylan over the past ten years and how Dylan’s stardom has developed in a way that contains, but is not overshadowed by, his achievements in the 1960s.