Our Celebrities, Ourselves

By NEAL GABLER

It has been more than 40 years since the historian Daniel Boorstin, in a now famously clever turn of phrase, defined a celebrity as someone who is known for being well known. If he were writing about celebrity today, Boorstin might describe it less flippantly as one of America's most prominent cottage industries and one of television's fastest-growing genres -- one in which spent...

To continue reading this premium article, you must have a Chronicle account AND a subscription or an online pass.

Subscriptions start at $40; Web passes for under $10.

If you have a Chronicle account:

Log in now.

User name

Password

 

Remember my user name
Forgot your user name?
Forgot your password?
Log in tips

Don't have a Chronicle account?

Create a free account to purchase a subscription or an online pass.

Your free account also allows you to sign up for Chronicle e-newsletters, participate in online discussions, and more…