Celebrity: How Entertainers Took Over The World and Why We Need an Exit Strategy - Softcover

"An excoriating, needle-sharp and superbly funny attack on the 'stars' who abuse their fame" (Metro)

"This hilarious romp through modern culture by the Guardian columnist highlights the bizarre reach of hollow fame these days... Shudder-inducingly funny" (The Big Issue)

"If you like sharp, funny and super-smart, Marina Hyde is your woman" (Jonathan Freedland)

"She is one of those rare writers who are the same in person as they are on the page, damn good fun... It's a brilliant read, a surreal whistle-stop tour through the rogues' gallery of 21st century celebrities" (Chitra Ramaswamy Scotland on Sunday)

"Much of Hyde's material will be familiar...made me laugh out loud...outrageous and opening" (Guardian)

These days, entertainers no longer just entertain: they advocate dubious 'religions', work for the United Nations, get face-time with heads of state and monopolise problems they are infinitely qualified to solve - problems like Africa, the Middle East, and AIDS.

We stand at the beginning of a bright new chapter in human history. Feast your eyes, then, on Sharon Stone's peace mission to Israel, on a world where Angelina Jolie advises on the Iraqi reconstruction effort or Charlie Sheen analyses 9/11, and in which Jude Law's attempts to establish contact with the Taliban are reported without irony.

Celebrity is a roadmap, a survivalist's guide, a Rosetta Stone for our times: without a copy you are not equipped to engage with the world...