Hype

Hype rips the wrapping off the celebrity package, revealing in shocking detail how public figures are manufactured - often by themselves. In this outrageous and at times hilarious book - a witch's brew of sensational gossip and keen cultural observation - Steven Aronson brilliantly describes and boldly decodes the mechanism of hype: "much more ado about something than that something is ever worth." Hype's acid dissolves inflated careers and reputations, but even when the nature of the material is appalling, the book with its cast of hundreds never fails to entertain. It is a tour de force whose style ingeniously mirrors its contents.