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The Dictionary of National Celebrity

The Dictionary of National Celebrity

by William Donaldson (Compiler), Hermione Eyre (Compiler)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2005

    $4.46
Synopsis

As Miles Kington recently complained in his Independent column, newspapers are increasingly full of unfamiliar names: 'Ant and Dec, Carol Smillie, Jordan, Simon Cowell, Nasty Nick, the Coughing Major, Davina McCall. 'Who are these horrible people?' asked Mr Kington. 'There should be a Dictionary of National Celebrity to keep us informed.' Indeed. For those who have no idea as to the true identity of, say, Maureen from Driving School, Charlotte the Harlot or Foxy Coxy, help is at hand! The Dictionary of National Celebrity consists of some 300 A to Z entries, running the gamut of today's celebrity culture from Jade Goody to Simon Cowell, from Lord Brocket to Emma Bunton, from Vanessa Feltz to Michael Flatley, from Christine Hamilton to Lady Victoria Hervey, from James Hewitt to Paris Hilton, and from Ricardo the Queer Barber to Richard and Judy. The volume will also include entries for a small number of seminal historical figures - Icarus, Boudicca, Lady Godiva - who may fairly be said to have blazed a trail for today's celebrities.In addition to these biographical articles, there will also be short articles on some key words and phrases in the celebrity lexicon, some key issues for the today's Celebrities ('celebrity handholding', 'cracking the American market'), and on some fascinating Celebrity phenomena (including 'Celebrity air rage'). Furthermore, special feature entries detailing Celebrity faux pas, will be accompanied by Celebrity 'top ten' charts displaying the ups and downs in popularity of various household names.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 272
 Publisher: Orion
Published: 10 Nov 2005
ISBN 10: 0304368059
ISBN 13: 9780304368051
Book Overview: Includes biographical entries for 300 contemporary celebrities. A hugely informative reference book, but also a highly entertaining read. Packed with oddities, quirky facts and revelations about high-profile celebrities. The perfect companion to the age of reality TV. Co-authored by Hermione Eyre and the late William Donaldson: Hermione writes a much-admired celebrity column in the Independent on Sunday; Until his death in June 2005, William Donaldson was one of Bruitain mopst admired comic writers and the author of Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics and The Henry Root Letters.

Media Reviews
If I start quoting these cyanide dipped thumbnail sketches I may never stop... On the whole it's so gratifyingly sharp. they delight with their surreal digressions, surprise by having kind words for a (very few) celebs, and keep their wits about them even when they do. -- BOYD TONKIN THE INDEPENDENT William Donaldson... nothing will be quite such a gift to posterity as his final, posthumously published work. The Dictionary of National Celebrity... fairly spits satirical venom... one of the most reassuring books published in years. -- DJ TAYLOR GUARDIAN had me almost weeping with laughter within moments of picking it up. From its analysis of Diogenes's influence on modern celebrity culture to its evisceration of the late Oliver Reed, this is pure gold. And any book that describes Tamara Beckwith as a boiled egg with eyebrows painted on deserves to be on every shortlist going. -- DOMINIC SANDBROOK EVENING STANDARD great fun -- WENDY HOLDEN NEW STATESMAN gloriously offensive... sets a benchmark of wit, pertinence and sheer savagery that few of this year's stocking fillers meet... This should really become an updated annual event, like Who's Who but with more laughs - and much more honesty. -- BOYD TONKIN (again!) THE INDEPENDENT just very funny... a wry comment on the profanity of celebrity culture. -- SARAH VINE THE TIMES
Author Bio
William Donaldson was educated at Winchester and Cambridge and went into the theatre, producing Beyond the Fringe and The Bedsitting Room. His novels include Both the Ladies and the Gentlemen, Nicknames Only and Is This Allowed? His trivia include The Henry Root Letters, The Further Letters of Henry Root, Henry Root's World of Knowledge, Root into Europe (filmed by ITV, 1991) and Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics (2002). William Donaldson died in June 2005. Hermione Eyre has contributed over 300 articles to the Independent and the Independent on Sunday, where she is a staff writer and bath salts correspondent. Hermione Eyre is the TV critic of the Independent on Sunday. She has contributed to publications including The New Statesman and The Telegraph, and appeared on Women's Hour (Radio 4), Night Waves (Radio 3) and Sky News.