Overview

It's hard to imagine our world without its stars and celebrity geniuses--they become a part of our culture and history, seeming permanent and preordained. But as Cass Sunstein shows in this startling book, that is far from the case. Focusing on both famous and forgotten (or simply overlooked) artists and luminaries in music, literature, business, science, politics, and other fields, he explores why some individuals become famous and others don't and offers a new understanding of the role of greatness, luck, and contingency in the achievement of fame. First, Sunstein examines recent research--on informational cascades, power laws, network effects, and group polarization--to probe the question of how people become famous. He explores what ends up in the history books, in the great religious texts, and in the literary canon--and how that changes radically over time. He delves into the rich and entertaining stories of a diverse cast of famous characters, from John Keats, William Blake, and Jane Austen to Bob Dylan, Ayn Rand, and Stan Lee--as well as John, Paul, George, and Ringo. How to Become Famous takes you on a fun, captivating, and at times profound journey that will forever change your perspective on the latest celebrity's ""fifteen minutes,"" the nature of memory, success and failure in business, and our enduring fascination with fame.

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Reviews

"""A book that could also be titled Tales to Astonish. Cass Sunstein looks, mouth agape, at examples of those on whom fortune has smiled, as well as at examples of those who have inexplicably been denied its favor, connecting the dots all the while. A fun, potent, and vital examination."" -- ""Howard Fishman, author of To Anyone Who Ever Asks"" ""A tour de force of social scientific observation about the nature of fame, its mechanisms, and how it can end up unfairly distributed."" -- ""Tyler Cowen, professor of economics, George Mason University"" ""The book won't tell you how to become famous, but it will help you understand fame--and its sibling, success--in a radically new way. If you read and understand this book, the world will never look the same to you again."" -- "" Duncan Watts, Stevens University professor, University of Pennsylvania"""

Author Information

Cass R. Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard and the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. He is the author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including Impeachment: A Citizen's Guide, Nudge (with Richard Thaler), Law and Leviathan (with Adrian Vermeule), How to Interpret the Constitution, On Freedom, and Can It Happen Here?: Authoritarianism in America. He is a recipient of the Holberg Prize, sometimes described as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for the humanities and social sciences. Tom Beyer is a character actor who has appeared in over 100 TV shows, films, and commercials; has performed in innumerable plays and musicals; and has narrated many audiobooks. Grown in New York, fermented in Seattle, and aged in Los Angeles, his passions include Shakespeare, reading, intense physical exercise, and animal rescue. He has won awards for his stage work as both an actor and a director, and has adapted classical literature for the theater. He believes strongly in civic engagement, and volunteers for multiple organizations. Tom Beyer is a character actor who has appeared in over 100 TV shows, films, and commercials; has performed in innumerable plays and musicals; and has narrated many audiobooks. Grown in New York, fermented in Seattle, and aged in Los Angeles, his passions include Shakespeare, reading, intense physical exercise, and animal rescue. He has won awards for his stage work as both an actor and a director, and has adapted classical literature for the theater. He believes strongly in civic engagement, and volunteers for multiple organizations.

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