What a relief to discover that Ashley Cole's autobiography has sold only 4,000 copies. If only Jordan's book had met the same fate:
"Being Jordan" has sold, in various forms, more than a million copies since it was published in 2004. Stuffy publishers sat up. They had stumbled on a new market which they pejoratively labelled "red-top publishing".
I know someone whose sole ambition in life is to becoming a contestant on Big Brother. If that doesn't pan out, perhaps she could opt for the next best thing to a celebrity - a celebrity's personal assistant, part of a burgeoning cottage industry in the US:
"Most assistants describe the bulk of their work as drudgery -- doing laundry, fetching groceries, paying bills. And unlike lawyers and agents, who rub shoulders with the stars and often make millions of dollars, assistants are not paid particularly well." They "typically make about $56,000" and are on the job around the clock. Into the bargain -- if "bargain" is the word for it -- they often face what one described to Halpern as "a problem with this job -- sometimes there is a loss of self."
Still, there is, as Halpern writes, "a definite quid pro quo in these relationships: Followers get a sense of belonging, security, and importance; and leaders feed off their admiration and devotion." Halpern argues that the need to bond with celebrities is a small manifestation of a general trend toward loneliness in American society -- the "Bowling Alone" theme -- and people's need to counteract it in their own lives.
But as we all know, it's not just an American disease.
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