Celebrity Nation, Landon Y. Jones
Celebrity Nation, Landon Y. Jones
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Celebrity Nation
How America Evolved into a Culture of Fans and Followers

Author: Landon Y. Jones

Narrator: Jean-François Montoya

Unabridged: 5 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/09/2023

Synopsis

A former People magazine editor reveals how our cult of celebrity has shaped our politics, our culture, and our personal lives—for better or worse

From the writer and editor who coined the term “baby boomer” comes Celebrity Nation, an exploration into how and why fame no longer stems only from heroic achievements but from the number of “likes” and shares—and what this change means for American culture. Landon Jones—who spent decades in “celebrityland” only to emerge, like Alice, blinking in the sunlight—brings a personal and first-person perspective on fame and its dark underbelly, complicated even further by the arrival of the internet and social media.

Jones draws on his experience as the former managing editor of People magazine to bolster his account with profiles of celebrities he knew personally, ranging from Malcolm X to Princess Diana, as well as observations about contemporary social media stars like Kim Kardashian and computer-generated macro-influencer Miquela, a self-proclaimed “19-year-old Robot living in LA.” In analyzing the stories of over 75 celebrities, spanning decades and industries, Jones shows how celebrity has been wielded as a weapon of mass distraction to spawn narcissism, harm, and loneliness.

And yet, in these stories we also see a path forward. Jones highlights luminaries like Nobel Peace prize winner Maria Ressa and lauded environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who have effected meaningful change not by glorifying themselves but by turning to their communities for action. A lively analysis of celebrity culture’s impact on nearly every facet of our lives, Celebrity Nation helps us to recognize how the apparatus of fame operates.

About The Author

Landon Y. (Lanny) Jones (1943–2024) was an editor and author. He was the former managing editor of People and Money magazines and the author of William Clark and the Shaping of the West (2004), a biography of the co-leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jones also edited a selection of the expedition journals, The Essential Lewis and Clark (2000). In 1980, he published Great Expectations: America and the Baby Boom Generation, which coined the phrase “baby-boomer” and was a finalist for the American Book Award in Nonfiction. In 2015, he received the Henry R. Luce Award for Lifetime Achievement from Time Inc.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Stewart on September 07, 2023

Full disclosure: I won a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It's pretty much what you'd expect from the cover. Jones delves into the history and evolution of celebrity culture, mainly in the USA, though some aspects predate the founding of the country. As a former editor of People magaz......more

Goodreads review by Olivia on June 21, 2023

2.5 | I was interested in the book's topic but found that what was covered missed the mark. This book reads like a grandfather explaining social media influencers. I found it to be dull and dated. I also found it ironic that the former editor of People, arguably one of the major influencers on the o......more

Goodreads review by Rachel | All the RAD Reads on February 02, 2024

celebrity fascinates me, mostly because it doesn’t impress me or appeal to me at all 🤷🏼‍♀️ i’ve never known how to answer when people ask who my celebrity crush is, because i just don’t get that into famous people?? ANYWHO this book was an interesting look at celebrity and who we idolize. written by......more

Goodreads review by Dan on July 19, 2023

"Fame is a by-product. Fame is something that should happen because you do work that speaks to people and people want to know about your work. Unfortunately, the personality of people has taken over from the work and the artistry and it's this thing now that stands on its own. I don't think one shou......more

Goodreads review by Alex on August 19, 2024

This is a book that breaks little new ground, and its authorship by the former editor of People Magazine negates many of the lessons within. At its best, this is an accurate and well-researched history of the modern celebrity; at its worst, it's a laundry list of celebrities with heavy personal bias......more

Quotes

“A disquieting, well-researched exploration of the celebrity phenomenon and its consequences for our society.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Jones is an astute chronicler of celebrity culture.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A well-researched, astute examination of the blurred lines between heroes and celebrities. The book’s narrative and plot points are immensely readable.”
—Library Journal

“Others have—and will—explore this topic in more depth, but Jones’s clear-eyed, often rueful take on the phenomenon is an excellent starting point.”
—Shelf Awareness

“A triumph of human insight into an all-too-often inhuman institution that can become a mortal threat to celebrities themselves.”
—The Milken Review

“An irresistibly readable history and critique of our vertiginous celebrity culture.”
—Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde

“As one of the founding editors at People, Lanny Jones helped chronicle and invent the rise of celebrity culture. In this fun and insightful book, he explores the difference between celebrities and heroes, a distinction that is more important than ever in our age of Kardashians and Trumps.”
—Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs

“As the editor of People magazine during its early glory days, Landon Jones was present at the creation of the Celebrity Nation. He brings a sharp eye and deep understanding—as well as warmth and humor—to exploring a phenomenon that once seemed like an entertaining diversion but now threatens to consume us all.”
—Evan Thomas, author of First: Sandra Day O’Connor and Road to Surrender

“The final arbiter of all matters celebrity in America.”
—former columnist Frank Rich, New York Times

“As a former editor of People magazine, Landon Jones is an expert on the rise of celebrity culture in this country and its troubling social costs. His mesmerizing book, revealing in unsettling detail how America’s addiction to celebrity has heightened its political and class divisions and weakened community and family ties, is a must-read.”
—Lynne Olson, author of Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction

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