Glamour: A History (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780199569786)

Here is the first ever history of glamour, ranging from Paris in the tumultuous final decades of the eighteenth century through to Hollywood, New York, and Monte Carlo in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from the glamorous fictional characters of Walter Scott to iconic figures such as Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe to modern idols such as Paris Hilton. The book maps the origins of glamour and investigates the forms that it took in modern times, discussing the role of writers, journalists, artists, photographers, film-makers and fashion designers, occupations like the model and the air stewardess, cities and resorts such as Paris, New York, and Monte Carlo, and products including luxury cars and jets--all of which are bathed in the public mind with the magical aura of glamour. And he shows how glamour feeds on the middle class yearning for a thrilling and colorful life, a yearning reinforced by the cinema and the press, which serve as a stage for acting out scenes of a desirable life.

Author: Stephen Gundle
ISBN-10: 0199569789
ISBN-13: 9780199569786
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
Published: 09/28/2009
Pages: 502
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 7.60h x 5.00w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 12/20/2009 pg. 20