Description:
Literary Celebrity in Canada explores that space, drawing on current theories of celebrity and questioning their tendency to view fame as an empty phenomenon.
Brief description:
Lorraine York is the Senator William McMaster Chair in Canadian Literature and Culture and a professor in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University.
Review Quotes:
"Lorraine York's brief study of Canadian literary celebrity joins the growing pantheon of theory and criticism urging its readers to re-evaluate their assumptions ... it remains accessible as a shot across the bow of staid academic considerations of Canadian literature."
--Owen Percy, Canadian Literature'To date, only a tiny number of article-length studies have considered Canadian literary celebrity, and then only in relation to individual authors or as part of a broader reception study. In this light, Literary Celebrity in Canada has no precedents and really breaks new ground. Lorraine York has written a very significant and genuinely novel study which makes a considerable contribution both to Canadian literary studies and to the study of celebrity. It is enjoyable to read and should appeal to anyone with an interest in Canadian writers.'
--Faye Hammill, Cardiff School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University'This text both chronicles and theorizes literary celebrity in Canada. Lorraine York begins with an introduction to the burgeoning field of celebrity cultural studies, and goes on to historicize the topic in a chapter on Canadian literary celebrities of the early twentieth century. Particularly interesting are her case studies of Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Carol Shields, three major figures in contemporary Canadian literature. This is a well-written and well-argued study that stakes out important new critical territory.'
--Loren Glass, Department of English, University of Iowa