Peter Cherches' STAR COURSE--The growth of celebrity culture in an America eager to see stars in the flesh
"In the century before television brought stars into our living rooms, celebrities crisscrossed the nation, bringing entertainment and perspectives to towns large and small. Peter Cherches, through his careful research and engaging prose, brings the stars and impresarios of the nineteenth-century lecture circuit back from the dead and gives us a front-row seat. This is an important book." - David T.Z. Mindich, author of Just the Facts: How "Objectivity" Came to Define American Journalism and chair of Temple University's journalism department Peter Cherches, best known for his witty, probing fictions in the minimalist vein, such as Lift Your Right Arm and Autobiography Without Words , also has a Ph.D. in American Studies. In STAR COURSE , he has written a unique book for anyone interested in the origins of celebrity culture. It begins in a 19th-century America with no TV and radio, let alone Internet. Here are audiences, which distingush be...