What Price Fame Author:Tyler Cowen In a world where more people know who Princess Di was than who their own senators are, where Graceland draws more visitors per year than the White House, and where Tiger Woods is an industry unto himself, fame and celebrity are central currencies. Tyler Cowen considers the implications of modern fame for creativity, privacy, and morality. Wherea... more »s critics from Plato to Allan Bloom have decried the quest for fame, Cowen takes a more pragmatic, optimistic view. He identifies the benefits of a fame-intensive society and makes a persuasive case that however bad fame may turn out to be for the famous, it is generally good for society and culture. "[Cowen] intellectually explores a broad array of fame's elements … [His] book delves into many of today's pressing issues, using the dynamics of fame as a backbone." —Anthony B. Giornalista, Associated Press "Cowen's argument is broad-ranging, drawing from both classical and modern sources in ways that few authors would be equipped to do. It is intelligently and gracefully reasoned. It might persuade even some of the most severe critics of the current cultural scene to rethink some of their positions. There is an enormous amount of fresh thinking here on some extremely interesting and important topics." —Robert H. Frank, author of Luxury Fever« less