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Greg Jenner’s survey of celebrities through the ages has a distinctly Horrible Histories feel

28 March 2020

9:00 AM

28 March 2020

9:00 AM

Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen Greg Jenner

Weidenfeld, pp.389, 18.99

Good writing about celebrity is scant. It has few poets, because it takes depth to go truly shallow (I’d nominate Roland Barthes, Peter Conrad, Kenneth Tynan, Clive James, Marina Hyde, Lynn Barber and the New Yorker’s Lauren Collins). It all runs the risk of becoming instantly dated. As a magazine interviewer myself, I’ve learnt to expect anyone blabbing about their marital bliss and vegan awakening to be divorced and setting up a burger chain by the time the piece comes out.

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