The famous can be train wrecks, or they can be beautiful, but they almost always have the same effect on us: we cannot look away. In today's world, celebrity is a force almost as powerful as gravity. No matter how sophisticated you are, somewhere in your heart there still lurks a secret crush: a star who you'll always wish that you could meet—or be. You can tell yourself that you just "admire Bruce Springsteen's work," but what would happen if he walked into your office right now?
Writing for The New York Times and other publications, journalist Michael Joseph Gross spent three years infiltrating the carnival of fame that fuels our culture. Traveling from Hollywood to Dollywood, from Neverland to Middle Earth, he exposed the exploitation, appreciation, hope, and disappointment that bind celebrities and the rest of us.
In Starstruck Gross chases after Mick Jagger with a professional autograph collector; trails Dolly Parton with fans unabashedly in her thrall; gets the inside scoop from Mary Hart on covering Hollywood for Entertainment Tonight; and walks the red carpet with Sean Astin during The Lord of the Rings' Oscar championship season. Weaving dozens of such adventures with wide-ranging celebrity interviews (Tom Cruise, Shirley Jones, Missy Elliott, Mickey Rourke, Will Smith, Debra Messing, and many more). Gross offers an unprecedented view of life on both sides of the velvet rope, showing what fans look like from the perspective of stars—who, paradoxically, often seem to be among the most starstruck of us all.
Hilarious, insightful, and unexpectedly touching, Starstruck suggests that perhaps we should all take a closer look at our secret lives as fans. Fandom, Gross argues, is worthy of serious attention not only as a barometer of dreams—but also as a driving force of the media industry whose influence on our society grows with each passing year.