Though the purpose of this book is not to sound elitist or rip against people like Paris Hilton per se, Rowlands reminds readers that the problem lies not with Hilton, but with the culture’s feeding interest in her and people like her. Celebrity magazines would be bankrupt if no one cared about these people, and certainly vfame is just one byproduct of this whole “Collapse of Enlightenment,” for Rowlands also notes that we see it in our Presidential running candidates, specifically when a number of them don’t even believe in evolution. We see it in the Internet and television, where people value not necessarily the quality or content of a given site, but the traffic and popularity these sites and shows receive. Just to give an example, over the summer I attended an Agent and Editors Conference in Austin, Texas and the overall tone of these people in the “biz” is to aspire to become the next James Patterson, not the next James Joyce. Or just look up recent movie releases. The first thing announced is how much money did the film make that opening weekend. Anything less than hundred million it’s considered a flop nowadays—forget any artistic merit. (Sorry Woody Allen).
Fame releases a whirlwind of ideas that would easily spawn discussion (and if not with anyone else then at least with yourself). It is a rewarding, insightful and mind you… entertaining read. Rowlands has a good sense of humor that is impossible not to appreciate, and the book manages to educate and entertain. No quality was compromised in the creating of this book, and that isn’t bullshit.
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