Star Authors , livre ebook

Star Auth o rs

Lite raryCe le brityin Ame ric a

Jo eMo ran

Plu toPress
LO N DO N• STERLING ,VIRG IN IA

First pu b lish ed2000 by Plut oPress
3 4 5Arch w ayRo ad ,Lo n d o nN 65 AA
an d22883 Qu icksilverDrive, Sterlin g,VA 20166-2012, USA

Co p yrigh t© Joe Moran 2000

Th erigh to fJo eM o rant ob eid en t ifiedas th eau t h o ro ft h isw o rkh asb een
assert edb yh imin accord an cewit ht h eCo p yrigh t ,Design s an dPat en t sAct 1988.

Brit ishLib raryCat alo gu in gin Pub licat io nDat a
A catalo gu ereco rdfo rt h isb o o kis available from th eBrit ishLib rary

ISBN 0 7453 1524 0 hb k

Lib raryo fCo n gressCat alo gin gin Pub licat io nDat a

Mo ran ,Jo
e,1970St arau t h o rs: literary celebrit yin America / Joe Moran .
p .cm .
Based on th eau t h o r’st h esis(d o ct o ral)-Un iversit yo fSu ssex.
In clu d es b ib lio grap h ical referen ces.
ISBN 0-7453-1524-0 (hb k)
1. American literat u re–20t hcen t u ry–Hist o ryan dcrit icism .2, Aut h o rsan d
read ers-Un it edSt at es–Hist o ry–20t hcen t u ry.3. Pop u larcu lt u re–Un it ed
St at es–Hist o ry–20t hcen t u ry.4. Acker, Kath y,1948–Ap p reciat io n –Un it ed
St at es.5. DeLillo, Don –Ap p reciat io n –Un it edSt at es.6 .Up d ike,Jo h n –
Ap p reciat io n –Un it edSt at es.7. Rot h ,Ph ilip –Ap p reciat io n –Un it edSt at es.8.
Celeb rit ies–Un it edSt at es.9. Cano n(Lit erat u re)1. Title.

PS225 .M67 2000
8l0.9’0054–d c21

Design edan dp ro d u cedfo rPlu t oPress by
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99-054537

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Co nt ent s

Acknowledgem ents

1 Int ro d u ct io n :Th eCh arism at icIllu sio n

Part One: Cultu ralCo n tex ts

2
3
4

Mark Twain Absu rd it y:Lit erat u rean dPu b licit yin America
Th eReign of Hype: Th e Con t em p o rarySt arSyst em
Disem b o d iedIm ages: Au t h o rs, Au t h o rsh ipan dCeleb rit y

Part Two :Star Auth o rs

5
6
7
8

Th eScrib eo fSu b u rb ia:Jo h nUp d ike
Realit ySh ift :Ph ilipRo t h
Silen ce,Exile, Cun n in gan dSo On : Do nDeLillo
A St ar o f Bo h em ia: Kat h y Acker

9 Con clu sio n : A ‘Meett h eAu t h o r’ Cu lt u re
No t es
In d ex

v ii

1

1 5
3 5
5 8

8 3
1 0 0
1 1 6
1 3 2

1 4 9
1 6 2
1 8 1

Ackn owled gemen ts

Th is b o o kb eganlife as a do ct o ralt h esisat th eUn iversit yo fSu ssexan dit
is a pleasu ret ot h an km y su p erviso r, St ep h enFen d er, fo r all h is ad vice an d
en co u ragem en t . I wo u ldalso like to th an k Ro ss Dawso n , Geo ff Hem st ed t ,
Mich ael Mo ran , W inMo ran ,Do u glasTallack an d m y edit o r,An n e Beech ,
fo rm an yh elp fu lco m m en t san dsu ggest io n s.So m eb riefsect io n so ft h is
b o o kfirst app earedin very differen tfo rmin th eJournal of Am erican Studies
(vo l.29, n o. 3 (Decem ber 1995)),Media, Culture and Society(vo l.19, n o. 3
(Ju ly1997)) and th eInternational Journal of Cultural Studies(vo l.o .1, n1
(Ap ril1998)), and I am gratefu lt oCam b rid geUn iversit yPress and Sage
Pu b licat io n sfo rp erm issio nt orep u b lish .Th isb o o kis for mu man dd ad ,
wit hlo vean dt h an ks.

v i

1
In tro d u ct io n: The Charism atic
Illu sio n

Th ere is n oavoid in gau th ors incon tem p orary Am ericancu ltu re.Th e books
an dart ssect io n so fn ew sp ap ersan dm agazin esare filled wit hau t h o
rin terviews an dp rofiles an dfeatu res abou tth em ; th ey cropu pon talk shows
an do t h ert elevisio np ro gram m es,as well as info m ercialsan dsh o p p in g
ch an n els; t h eyd rawau d ien cest oread in gs,lect u res,sign in gs,b o o kfairs,
lit eraryfest ivals,p u b licd eb at esan dwrit ers’ co n feren ces.Asid efro mt h ese
co n cret eap p earan ces,t h eyalso circulat ein a mo ren eb u lo u ssp h ereo f
go ssipan dru m o u r,as th e m ed iarep ro d u cesp ecu lat io nabo u tt h eirp rivat e
lives, peer-gro u privalries and millio n -d o llarp u b lish in gd eals,ru nart
icles abo u twh eret osp o tt h em o stfash io n ab lelit eraryceleb rit iesaro u n d
t o wnan dp ro d u ceh elp fu l ch art s fo rread ersran kin gwrit ersacco rd in gt o
1
t h eirst at u san dvisib ilit y,revealin gwh ichare ‘in’ an dwh ichare ‘ou t ’.
W h atis goin g o nh ere, int h iscu lt u rein which , as o n e co m m en t at o r p u t s
it ,‘No b ellau reat esin literat u regive th eirrecip est ot h eNew YorkTim es
2
livin g sect io n ’?If celebrit yau t h o rsh ard ly rival t h eir co u n t erp art s infilm ,
t elevisio nan dp o p u larm u sicfo rco lu m nin ch es,t h eyare still a
significan tcu lt u ralp h en o m en o n ,o n ewell wort hexam in in gcrit ically.
Th isb o o kis abo u tt h isp h en o m en o no flit eraryceleb rit y– ho wit is
p rod u cedan dd issem in ated ,wh atkin d s of m ean in gs are attach edto it, and
h o wceleb rit yau t h o rst h em selvesh avegrap p ledwit han dad d edt ot h ese
m ean in gs int h eirwo rk.Ab o veall, I wan t to challen get h eway th eem
ergen ceo flit eraryceleb rit yis mo stco m m o n lyexp lain ed– int erm so ft h e
vu lgarizat io no flit erarylife by com m ercial m ass m ed ia inAm erica. Int h is
argu m en t ,co n t em p o rarylit eraryfam e b eco m es p arto ft h eo verallp
ervasiven esso f‘en t ert ain m en tceleb rit y’(an yfam elin kedt ot h esp h ereo f
p o p u larcu lt u re)wh ichis seenas ‘anim p erialistp h en o m en o n ,m o vin g

1

2

St arAu t h o rs

3
in t on ewaren asan dm akin gt h emo verin its own image’. More
specifically, it is lin ked to th e u b iq u it y o f m ed iaim ages inco n t em p o rarycu lt u re
an da new emp h asiso nm erevisib ilit yo rn o t o riet yas a sou rceo ffam e.
Th isrecalls Daniel Boo rst in ’ssem in ald efin it io no ft h eceleb rit yas bein g
sim p ly‘well-known forhis well-knownnessh u m anp seu d o -even t ’,a... th e
p ern icio u slyart ificialfigu rep ro d u cedb yt h ein flu en ceo fm ass m ed iao n
Am ericancu lt u rean dso ciet y.Acco rd in gt oBo o rst in ,‘t h est arsyst emh as
reach edfar beyo n dt h em o vies. W h erever itreach es itco n fu sest rad it io n al
form s of ach ievem en t. Itfocu ses onth e p erson ality rath er th anon the work.
It pu t sa prem iu mo nwell-kn o w n n essfo rit so wnsake’. He no t es,fo r
ex am p le,t h ew ayin wh ich‘t h eAm ericanp u b lish in gscen eh asb een
d o m in at edb ya few stars ... wh o h ave pro sp eredas aut h o rsp art lyb ecau se
4
t h eyco u ldb et o u t edas “perso n alit ies”’.
Like Boo rst in ’sd ist in ct io nb et weent h et rad it io n alfigu reo ft h e‘h ero ’
an dt h eco n t em p o rary‘celeb rit y’– th efo rm erb ein g‘a big man ’ an dt h e
5
lat t ersim p ly‘a big nam e’– mu cho ft h eexist in gd iscu ssio no flit erary
celeb rit yis injerem iad icvein ,o p p o sin gt h eh yp ean dp u b licit yo fceleb
rit yt oan earlier,p u rerfo rmo fd eservedfam e. AN ewsweekart iclet h efro m
1980s – a tim e o f fran t ic b u yo u t s o f p u b lish in g firm s an dt h ein t ro d u ct io n
o fso p h ist icat edn ewm arket in g t ech n iq u es in t ot h eb o o kin d u st ry – p u tit
in th eset erm s:

O p enju stab o u tan y m agazin e t o d ay, t u rno nan y t alk sh o w, an dyo u ’ll
fin da writer ho ld in gfo rt h... on where he gets his ideas, what he eats
fo rb reakfastan d ,o fco u rse,t h est at eo ft h eAm ericann o vel.Im agin e
wh atHerm anMelville ... wou ldh avet h o u gh to fJerzy Kosin skih
alfn akedo nt h eco vero ft h ees MagazineN ewYork Tim... Wh eh atwo u ld
h avem ad eo fJo h nIrvin gscan t ilyclad in wrestler’s briefs to advert ise
t h en ewm agazin eVanity Fairo m? ... Melville, whan average oad ef
$1,600 a year at his writin g p eak an dwas th erefo re o n e o f t h e b est -p aid
au t h o rso fh is d ay, m igh tfin dit hard to credit th evast sum s o f m o n ey
t h atn o wflo wt o wardwrit erswh o sefaces flashacro sst h eco u n t ryo n
t h eco verso fn at io n alm agazin esan dwh o seim agesen t erAm erica’s
6
livin gro o m svia cath o d e-rayt u b es.

Th isd escen sio nn arra t ive,co n t ra st in g‘serio u s’lit era t u rew it ht h e
frivo lo u s,t it illa t in ga ge n d ao ft h em ed iaa n dt h ed isp o sa b ilit yo f
co n su m ercu lt u re,is reitera t edin aca d em iccu lt u ra lcrit icism .Jo h n
C a w elt i,fo rexam p le,m akesa clear dist in ct io nb et weenlit erary‘fam e’
an dco n t em p o rarylit erary‘celeb rit y’:

In t ro d u ct io n :Th eCh arism at icIllu sio n

3

Th e testof artistic fam e is th at on e’s word s or im ages rem ainin the m in ds
o fm en ; t h e t esto fceleb rit yis bein g fo llo wedeverywh ere b ya ph o t o
grap h er... Th e object of celebrity is th e p erso n ; t h e o bjecto ffam e is so m e
7
acco m p lish m en t ,act io n ,o rcreat ivewo rk.

Alan Spiegel sim ilarly agrees th at th e turn in g of con tem p orary au th ors in to
p u b liccu rio sit iesserves th emu pas part of th em ean in gless ep h em erao f
co n su m erism :

Celeb rit ywat ch in gis still on eo ft h iscu lt u re’sm o stefficien tan t id o t es
t ot h ep o iso no fd eadt im ein a leisure econ o m y; o u rn at io n al p ast im e
o fco n vert in gan artist int oa screen star wh ile draggin g h is artalo n gas
a stan d -inis th ecu st o m aryp riceserio u swo rku su allyp aysfo rp erm
is8
sio nt oleave th ecell of th esp ecialistan den t ert h em arket p lace.

Th ese com m en ts seemto tap into general an xieties inpostm odern , m ediatized
cu lt u reab o u tt h erep lacem en to ft h e‘real’ with surface image, and th e
su b seq u en tb lu rrin go fb o u n d ariesb et weenrealit yan dfict io n ,p u b lican d
p rivat e,h ighan dlo wcu lt u re.
It is po ssib le,t h o u gh ,t och allen ge t h is n arrat ive fro mt wop ersp ect ives.
First ,it sview of m ass cult u recan be seen as to ou n ifo rm lyh o st ile: crit ical
d iscu ssio n so fm ain st r