Glamour by Stephen Gundle
Glamour is one of the most tantalizing and bewitching aspects of contemporary culture - but also one of the most elusive. The aura of celebrity, the style of the fashion world, the vanity of the rich and beautiful, and the publicity-driven rites of cafe society are all imbued with its irresistible magnetism. But what exactly is glamour? Where does it come from? How old is it? And can anyone quite capture its magic? Stephen Gundle answers all these questions and more in this first ever history of the phenomenon, 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 Napoleon to Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe, from Beau Brummell to Gianni Versace. Throughout, the book captures the excitement and sex appeal of glamour while exposing its mechanisms and exploring its sleazy and sometimes tragic underside. As Gundle shows, while glamour is exciting and magnetic, its promise is ultimately an illusion that can only ever be partially fulfilled.
A substantial book about an insubstantial, yet somehow fascinating, topic' Jonathan Sale, Independent This book is essential reading for anyone interested in or working within popular culture, cinema and fashion, and recommended for anyone seeking a scholarly yet readable account of this potent phenomenon. THES. Gundle is brilliant at the old razzle-dazzle. Saturday Guardian. Veronica Horwell. This book is a thoroughly comprehensive and meticulously researched history of glamour. THES.
Stephen Gundle is Professor of Film and Television Studies at Warwick University, having previously taught at Royal Holloway, University of London and both Oxford and Cambridge universities. He has written widely about Italian and European culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, his work focusing especially on the mass media, the cultural aspects of politics and fashion, and the impact of American modernity on European popular culture.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780199210985 |
| ISBN 10 | 0199210985 |
| Title | Glamour |
| Author | Stephen Gundle |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 2008-06-26 |
| Number of pages | 502 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |