Description
Book SynopsisAmericans are obsessed with celebrities. While our fascination with fame intensified throughout the twentieth century, the rise of the weekly gossip magazine in the early 2000s confirmed and fueled our popular culture s celebrity mania.
Trade Review"Andrea McDonnell's sympathetic study of celebrity magazines brings a fresh and original approach to what she calls 'the popular feminine'. With humor and understanding she shows what the magazines mean to their twenty-something readers as they engage with the challenges and contradictions of being female at that particular moment in their lives. An essential read for all students of gender and popular culture."
Paddy Scannell, University of Michigan "Andrea McDonnell's book is a real treat. Reading Celebrity Gossip Magazines offers a much needed integration and update of the study of women’s popular culture by integrating reader, writer and textual perspectives in a strong analysis."
Joke Hermes, University of Amsterdam "An outstanding analysis of the explosive rise and appeal of celebrity magazines in the early twenty-first century. Exceptionally well-written, thoughtful and nuanced, this study breaks new ground in identifying the types of visual strategies the magazines deploy, which kinds of normative messages are most salient in them, and why these magazines, despite being recognized as 'trashy', have enormous appeal to young women. Highly recommended."
Susan Douglas, University of MichiganTable of ContentsIntroduction: Celebrity Gossip Magazines in American Popular Culture
1. Gendering Celebrity Gossip
2. All About Us: Celebrity Gossip Magazines and the Female Reader
3. Stars on Earth: The Paradox of Ordinary Celebrity
4. Making Morality Meaningful
5. Ambiguously Truthful
Conclusion: On Pleasure and the Popular
Appendices
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