Publisher Description
"In this collection commissioned by Amy Scholder, nine original essays explore the specific and personal impact of cultural icons." —Publishers Weekly
Whose poster hung on your wall as a teenager? Whose record did you wear out? Whose life story could you not resist? Fascination works in mysterious ways—it can be born out of inspiration, or repulsion, or both. In these daring essays, some of the most provocative writers of our time offer a private view on a public figure. In the process, they reveal themselves in beautiful and unexpected ways, blurring the line between biography and memoir.
Original essays include Introduction by Amy Scholder, Mary Gaitskill on Linda Lovelace, Rick Moody on Karen Dalton, Johanna Fateman on Andrea Dworkin, Danielle Henderson on bell hooks, Hanne Blank on MFK Fisher, Kate Zambreno on Kathy Acker, Justin Vivian Bond on Karen Graham, Jill Nelson on Aretha Franklin, and Zoe Pilger on Mary Gaitskill
"A smart plunge into fandom's sober fringe." —Wayne Koestenbaum, author of My 1980s and Other Essays
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this collection commissioned by Scholder, editorial director of the Feminist Press, nine original essays explore the specific and personal impact of cultural icons public figures, often celebrities, who become the objects of our everyday obsessions. The contributors artists, musicians, and novelists in their own right did not first encounter their respective subjects in history class. Most can pinpoint the exact moment when they became enamored with their idols. For novelist Jill Nelson, it was at age 14 in 1967 when she heard Aretha Franklin's "Respect" booming from an open car window. Mary Gaitskill's adoration of Linda Lovelace began at age 17 when she viewed Deep Throat at a hippie film co-op. Singer/songwriter Justin Vivian Bond remembers model Karen Graham's vacant gaze in a decade's worth of Estee Lauder advertisements. Yet these essays are not solely homages they also explore the complicated consequences of putting a person on a pedestal. For example, writer and historian Hanne Blank's obsession with food writer M.F.K. Fisher in college was wracked with jealousy when Blank realized that her favorite food writer had the sort of graceful physique that she herself lacked. These essays reveal the hidden side of adulation and serve as a reminder that even today's literary lights once had icons of their own.
