Contains photographs of celebrities from films, television, and music that show how they have changed over the course of their lives and careers up to 2008.

Bringing together the latest thinking on both celebrity brands and celebrity culture from academics specialising in the field of marketing, this book explores a range of insightful contexts in order to add vigour and vitality to our understanding of the connections between celebrities, markets and culture. It unpacks the identity theoretics which have their origins in the turn to celebrity culture and the spectacle and glamour of mass-media practices. In doing so, the contributors hint at new forms of individuation where the line between the virtual and the actual is blurred, and where images of celebrities construct and deconstruct themselves. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management.

In the aftermath of liberalization of Indian economy in 1991, the study of star-fan studies has experienced exponential expansion. Hero and Hero-Worship: Fandom in Modern India explores the areas of political, religious, film and cricket star fandoms; analyzing the rise of star formations and their consequent fandoms, star-fan bonds, as well as the physical and virtual space that both stars and fans inhabit. As perhaps one of the first book-length studies on Indian fandom, this volume not only draws on the works of Jenkins and other fandom scholars, but also explores the economic and cultural specificities of Indian fandom. This book will be of particular interest to scholars working in the field, as well as general readers interested in understanding star-fan interactions and intersections.

The proceedings of the "Economics and Business Competitiveness International Conference" (EBCICON) provides a selection of papers, either research results or literature reviews, on business transformation in the digital era. Nine major subject areas, comprising accounting and governance, customer relations, entrepreneurship, environmental issues, finance and investment, human capital, industrial revolution 4.0, international issues, and operations and supply chain management are presented in the proceedings. These papers will provide new insights into the knowledge and practice of business and economics in the digital era. Therefore, parties involved in business and economics such as academics, practitioners, business leaders, and others will be interested in the contents of the proceedings.

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” — Glenn Close The book is on mental health issues serves as an important resource for individuals seeking to understand and manage their mental health challenges. This section typically contains a wealth of information and guidance on a range of mental health issues, including anxiety, overthinking and depression. This book includes information on the symptoms and causes of each condition, as well as information on the latest research, treatment options, and self-help strategies. It also provides practical advice and tips for managing symptoms and improving overall well-being. Overall, this book serves as an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand and manage their mental health challenges. It provides readers with the information, tools, and support they need to take charge of their mental health and lead happier and more fulfilling lives.

Frequently perceived as a characteristic of modern culture, the phenomenon of celebrity has much older roots. In this book Antoine Lilti shows that the mechanisms of celebrity were developed in Europe during the Enlightenment, well before films, yellow journalism, and television, and then flourished during the Romantic period on both sides of the Atlantic. Figures from across the arts like Voltaire, Garrick, and Liszt were all veritable celebrities in their time, arousing curiosity and passionate loyalty from their “fans.” The rise of the press, new advertising techniques, and the marketing of leisure brought a profound transformation in the visibility of celebrities: private lives were now very much on public show. Nor was politics spared this cultural upheaval: Marie-Antoinette, George Washington, and Napoleon all experienced a political world transformed by the new demands of celebrity. And when the people suddenly appeared on the revolutionary scene, it was no longer enough to be legitimate; it was crucial to be popular too. Lilti retraces the profound social upheaval precipitated by the rise of celebrity and explores the ambivalence felt toward this new phenomenon. Both sought after and denounced, celebrity evolved as the modern form of personal prestige, assuming the role that glory played in the aristocratic world in a new age of democracy and evolving forms of media. While uncovering the birth of celebrity in the eighteenth century, Lilti's perceptive history at the same time shines light on the continuing importance of this phenomenon in today’s world.

Original publication and copyright date: 2010.

I want to know what this adventure will make of me.

Self reinvention has become a preoccupation of contemporary culture. In the last decade, Hollywood made a 500-million-dollar bet on this idea with movies such as Multiplicity, Fight Club, eXistenZ, and Catch Me If You Can. Self reinvention marks the careers of Madonna, Ani DiFranco, Martha Stewart, and Robin Williams. The Nike ads of LeBron James, the experiments of New Age spirituality, the mores of contemporary teen culture, and the obsession with "extreme makeovers" are all examples of our culture's fixation with change. In a time marked by plenitude, transformation is one of the few things these parties have in common. Although transformation is widely acknowledged as a defining characteristic of our culture, we have almost no studies on what it is or how it works. Transformations offers the first comprehensive and systematic view. It is an ethnography of the contemporary world.