Fame: The Hijacking of Reality

＂Wholly riveting.＂ --New York Times Book Review

＂Justine Bateman was famous before selfies replaced autographs, and bags of fan mail gave way to Twitter shitstorms. And here’s the good news: she took notes along the way. Justine steps through the looking glass of her own celebrity, shatters it, and pieces together, beyond the shards and splinters, a reflection of her true self. The transformation is breathtaking. Revelatory and raucous, fascinating and frightening, Fame is a hell of a ride.＂ --Michael J. Fox, actor, author of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future

Entertainment shows, magazines, websites, and other channels continuously report the latest sightings, heartbreaks, and triumphs of the famous to a seemingly insatiable public. Millions of people go to enormous lengths to achieve Fame. Fame is woven into our lives in ways that may have been unimaginable in years past.

And yet, is Fame even real? Contrary to tangible realities, Fame is one of those ＂realities＂ that we, as a society, have made. Why is that, and what is it about Fame that drives us to spend so much time, money, and focus to create the framework that maintains its health?

Mining decades of experience, writer, director, producer, and actress Justine Bateman writes a visceral, intimate look at the experience of Fame. Combining the internal reality-shift of the famous, theories on the public’s behaviors at each stage of a famous person’s career, and the experiences of other famous performers, Bateman takes the reader inside and outside the emotions of Fame. The book includes twenty-four color photographs to highlight her analysis.

Born in Rye, New York, Justine Bateman has an impressive résumé that includes Family Ties, Satisfaction, Arrested Development, and many more. As an actress, she has been nominated for a Golden Globe and two Emmy awards. An advocate for net neutrality, Bateman holds a degree from UCLA in computer science and digital media management. Her film producing credits include Easy to Assemble with Illeana Douglas and Jared Drake’s Z. Bateman wrote her directorial film short debut, Five Minutes, which premiered at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, and her follow-up film short is the drama Push. She is currently in preproduction for her directorial feature film debut of her own script, Violet. Her writing has been published by DAME, Salon, and McSweeney’s.