As a youngster, Gross collected autographs, and although his passion for that hobby faded as he got older, his fascination with celebrity remained. Now a journalist (he's written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe and other publications), he explores the star system from both sides of the velvet rope. Gross interviews fans, collectors, celebrities and publicists in an effort to paint a broad portrait of changing celebrity culture. For instance, as a teenager in the 1980s, Gross enjoyed a personal correspondence with screen goddess Olivia de Havilland. Now, such personal access is rare: professional hounds get stars to autograph headshots, which they then sell on eBay. These pros can earn six figures a year, while minor celebrities, like 1950s and '60s actor Shirley Jones, charge $20 a pop for in-person signatures at signing conventions. Star power is a construct, explains Gross. Like an anthropologist trained in Hollywood culture, he understands the positive and negative results of adulation. . . Gross's writing is honest and humane, and his book is an entertaining look at modern celebrity culture.
— Publishers Weekly
Gross' book provides an enthralling look into the mentality of people who worship the stars and just how far they'll go for the chance to interact with one of their idols. Gross hangs out with Michael Jackson fans who have gathered to show support for the singer at his arraignment on child molestation charges. He walks the red carpet at the Screen Actors' Guild awards with Sean Astin and attends a taping of Will & Grace, where he spots an actor in the audience whose performance in the play Angels in America inspired him at a crucial time in his life. Gross never loses sight of his own fandom and thus is able to deliver piercing insights into the behavior of the fans he encounters and the stars with whom he crosses paths. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the cult of celebrity.
— Booklist
"Gross's blend of memoir and pop-culture commentary is intriguing, insightful and honest."
— San Francisco Chronicle
"It's hard to imagine a more important, underestimated, and vexing subject for America in 2005 than celebrity, and Michael Gross's treatment of the subject—at once a meditation and an eyewitness account—is everything one would hope it could be: thoughtful, generous, rigorous, and suspicious of cant."
— Jim Shepard, author of Project X
"Starstruck is a wonderful blend of insight, personal history, sociology, and hilarious gossip. I'm already dropping Michael Joseph Gross's commentary about 'people storms' and Luke Perry and the last cookie into conversation, with attribution, because I can't wait for people to start asking Gross for his autograph."
— Glen David Gold, author of Carter Beats the Devil
"Michael Gross has written a mesmerizing tale of adventure in which our essayist-hero, once an autograph hound himself, travels deep into the uncharted territory of contemporary American celebrity. Starstruck is like nothing else I have read—a backstage pass to the collective dream of achieving distinction. Moving, hilarious, and scary."
— Bernard Cooper, author of Truth Serum