Canadian, American, and British scholars explore the mutually determining relationship of modernism and modern celebrity culture in this innovative collection. Illuminating case studies of subjects both predictable (Virginia Woolf and F. Scott Fitzgerald) and surprising (Elvis and Hitler) are balanced by attention to broader issues related to modernist aesthetics, such as celebrity's relationship to identity, commodification, print culture, personality, visual cultures, and theatricality.

Contents: Introduction, Aaron Jaffe and Jonathan Goldman; Part 1 Celebrity Modernisms: Adolescent Dorian Gray: Oscar Wilde's proto-picture of modernist celebrity, Lois Cucullu; Orlando Pimpernel, Aaron Jaffe; Imposture in The Great Gatsby, Allan Hepburn; There has been an inward change: in search of Eric Walrond, James C. Davis; Erskine Caldwell: modernist manqué, Loren Glass; Gertrude Stein's currency, Deborah M. Mix. Part 2 Modernist Celebrities/Modernist Vernaculars: Garbo's glamour, Judith Brown; In good company: modernism, celebrity, and sophistication in Vanity Fair, Faye Hammill; Reaching for the stars: Jean de Tinan's 'Essay on Cléo de Mérode Considered as Popular Symbol', Michael D. Garval; Leni's Hitler/Hitler's Leni, Annalisa Zox-Weaver; Four Elvises, Edward P. Comentale. Part 3 Stellar Afterimages: Modernism is the age of Chaplin, Jonathan Goldman; On retrofitting: Samuel Beckett, tourist attraction, Stephen Watt; Defiling celebrity, Steven Connor; Afterword, Nancy Armstrong; Works cited; Index.