This short book by Professor Brett Kahr provides a psychoanalytic understanding of fame and celebrity in the early twenty-first century, building upon the bedrock foundations of the Freudian corpus. The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter One explores the psychology of the celebrity, questioning narcissistic and exhibitionist psychopathology, while Chapter Two examines the psychological state of those of who revel in the fame of others and in celebrity culture more broadly, and offers a discussion of the "Celebrity Worship Syndrome". Chapter Three provides a very brief history of the concept of celebrity itself, arguing that, contrary to popular opinion, the culture of celebrification cannot be blamed on twenty-first-century media moguls, but, rather, that such a preoccupation with famous personalities can be traced back to ancient times and demonstrates the need to broaden our analysis to include the role of deep, unconscious psychological forces. In Chapter Four, Kahr reviews some important theoretical concepts advanced by Freud and Winnicott, which provide an important foundation for the psychoanalytic study of fame, while Chapter Five provides a more comprehensive theory of the unconscious psychological roots of the need to worship fame and to seek it, drawing upon a multitude of sources, ranging from psychoanalytic theory and developmental psychological research, to film, archaeology, and, perhaps surprisingly, the history of infanticide. The book concludes, in Chapter Six, by studying the psychodynamics of celebrity and fame, arguing that being recognised by one’s family and friends in the intimate context of home life may well be the very best way to become a celebrity. Celebrity Mad outlines a psychoanalytic theory of the roots of our obsession with fame. It will be of great interest to psychoanalytic practitioners and researchers, as well as to readers interested in the psychology of fame.

Presents an analysis of social media, discussing how a technology which was once heralded as democratic, has evolved into one which promotes elitism and inequality and provides companies with the means of invading privacy in search of profits.

The Wheel of Ideals shows three families of ideals, the heroic, civic and altruistic, that sometimes work together and sometimes conflict. Every ideal has its true believers, and unbelievers: some people believe in it strongly, others less strongly, and others not at all--or so they claim. As ideals divide, people also divide. We can't all get along, perfectly, all the time, even with ourselves. Why not? Do we need conflict to make progress? Is perfect peace too peaceful? As ideals can be ignored or betrayed, they can also be carried too far, into decadence: dionysian overheating and the apollonian deep freeze. If you carried an ideal too far, how would you come to realize your mistake? How would you feel the gravity, the balancing pull, of the ideal calling you home? Without failure, without going too far, what is lost? What is the good of all these ideals, and these forms of decadence? The Wheel of Ideals suggests that we will go on asking these questions.

Go Inside MAD! It has long been assumed that anyone who wasted their formative years reading MAD must have wound up as a complete failure in life. But as it turns out, some readers actually went on to be...successful! For the first time ever, MAD asked some of these successful readers to share what reading (and appearing in) MAD meant to them. What they have to say may surprise you! Featuring essays with nouns, verbs, and punctuation by: Roseanne Barr Ken Burns Dane Cook Paul Feig Whoopi Goldberg Harry Hamlin Tony Hawk Ice-T Penn Jillette George Lopez David Lynch Todd McFarlane Jeff Probst John Slattery John Stamos Pendleton Ward Matthew Weiner But wait-there's more! (Regrettably.) MAD asked some of the aforementioned "complete failures in life" (MAD's editors, writers and artists to share their all-time favorite MAD articles. What they have to say will definitely disappoint you! Featuring the moronic mumblings of: Sergio Aragones Tom Bunk Tim Carvell Paul Coker Jack Davis Dick DeBartolo Desmond Devlin Mort Drucker Mark Fredrickson Drew Friedman Frank Jacobs Al Jaffee Peter Kuper Tom Richmond And many more! Plus, inside: a never-before-reprinted Alfred E. Neuman pop art poster! And, an all new fold-out poster: a specially commissioned look at the legendary MAD offices by Sergio Aragones!

Los Angeles magazine is a regional magazine of national stature. Our combination of award-winning feature writing, investigative reporting, service journalism, and design covers the people, lifestyle, culture, entertainment, fashion, art and architecture, and news that define Southern California. Started in the spring of 1961, Los Angeles magazine has been addressing the needs and interests of our region for 48 years. The magazine continues to be the definitive resource for an affluent population that is intensely interested in a lifestyle that is uniquely Southern Californian.

The daughter of one of the most powerful mobsters in America describes growing up amidst the glamour and tragedy of 1940s, 50s and 60s Las Vegas and recounts knowing Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and Frank Sinatra as a child.

With essays taking the reader from London to Bali, theatre to library and from election campaigns to television, The Meaning of Recognition collects the best of Clive James on art, culture and politics from 2001–2005. Whether analysing Bing Crosby, Bruno Schulz or Shakespeare, celebrating The Sopranos and The West Wing, or lamenting the decline of Formula One, Clive James writes with style and substance, offering food for thought across a huge variety of subjects. On Pushkin, Philip Roth, or the nature of celebrity, he is always sane, engaged and unmistakably himself. This collection shows Clive at his witty, learned and heartfelt best. ‘Clive James, the most glorious prose stylist of his generation, refuses to stop learning ever more about the world’ — New Statesman '[Clive] can both get to the heart of a subject and raise a laugh' – Sunday Times Clive James (1939–2019) was a broadcaster, critic, poet, memoirist and novelist. His much-loved, influential and hilarious television criticism is available both in individual volumes and collected in Clive James On Television. His encyclopaedic study of culture and politics in the twentieth century, Cultural Amnesia, remains perhaps the definitive embodiment of his wide-ranging talents as a critic. Praise for Clive James: 'The perfect critic' – A.O. Scott, New York Times 'There can't be many writers of my generation who haven't been heavily influenced by Clive James' – Charlie Brooker 'A wonderfully witty and intelligent writer' – Verity Lambert