“In a new book, Fame: The Hijacking of Reality, the two-time Emmy nominee takes a raw look at the culture of celebrity, reflecting on her stardom at its dizzying peak–and the ‘disconcerting’ feeling as it began to fade.”–People Magazine
“The Family Ties alum has written the rawest, bleakest book on fame you’re ever likely to read. Bateman’s close-up of the celeb experience features vivid … close-up of the celeb experience features vivid encounters with misogyny, painful meditations on aging in Hollywood, and no shortage of theses on social media’s wrath.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“As the title Fame: The Hijacking of Reality more than implies, this is a book about the complicated aspects of all things fame.”
—Vanity Fair
“Bateman addresses the reader directly, pouring out her thoughts in a rapid-fire, conversational style. (Hunter S. Thompson is saluted in the acknowledgments.)…But her jittery delivery suits the material–the manic sugar high of celebrity and its inevitable crash. Bateman takes the reader through her entire fame cycle, from TV megastar, whose first movie role was alongside Julia Roberts, to her quieter life today as a filmmaker. She is as relentless with herself as she is with others.”
—Washington Post
“Bateman digs into the out-of-control nature of being famous, its psychological aftermath and why we all can’t get enough of it.”
—New York Post
“You’ve never read anything quite like this book–don’t call it a memoir–by the actress/director/producer best known for her role on the ’80s sitcom Family Ties. It’s a meditation on fame (if something so raw and full of expletives can be called a meditation), examining what it does to celebrities–and the rest of us.”
—Newsday
“While Bateman’s new book Fame: The Hijacking of Reality (out now) touches on the former teen starlet’s experience in the public eye, it’s not a memoir. Far from it, in fact–it’s instead an intense meditation on the nature of fame, and a glimpse into the repercussions it has on both the individual experiencing it and the society that keeps the concept alive.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Now, nearly 30 years after Family Ties went off the air, Bateman is examining the ins and outs of stardom in her new book, Fame: The Hijacking of Reality. In it, she looks at the internal reality-shift of the famous and explores theories on the public’s behavior at each stage of a celebrity’s career. She also gets candid about her own ups and downs with stardom.”
—HuffPost
“Bateman takes an unsentimental look at the nature of celebrity worship in her first book, Fame: The Hijacking of Reality.”
—LA Weekly
Entertainment shows, magazines, websites, and other channels continuously report the latest sightings, heartbreaks, and triumphs of the famous to a seemingly insatiable public. Millions of people go to enormous lengths to achieve Fame. Fame is woven into our lives in ways that may have been unimaginable in years past.
And yet, is Fame even real? Contrary to tangible realities, Fame is one of those “realities” that we, as a society, have made. Why is that and what is it about Fame that drives us to spend so much time, money, and focus to create the framework that maintains its health?
Mining decades of experience, writer, director, producer, and actress Justine Bateman writes a visceral, intimate look at the experience of Fame. Combining the internal reality-shift of the famous, theories on the public’s behavior at each stage of a famous person’s career, and the experiences of other famous performers, Bateman takes the reader inside and outside the emotions of Fame. The book includes twenty-four color photographs to highlight her analysis.
more
