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Summary:

"Consider the most famous music group in history. What would the world be like if the Beatles never existed? This was the question posed by the playful, thought-provoking 2019 film Yesterday, in which a young, completely unknown singer starts performing Beatles hits to a world that has never heard them. Would the Fab Four's songs be as phenomenally popular as they are in our own Beatle-infused world? The movie asserts that they would, but is that true? Was the success of the Beatles essentially inevitable due to their amazing, matchless talent? Maybe. It's hard to imagine our world without its stars and celebrity geniuses-they become a part of our culture and history, seeming permanent and preordained. But as Harvard law professor (and passionate Beatles fan) Cass Sunstein shows in this startling book, that is far from the case. Focusing on both famous and forgotten (or simply overlooked) artists and luminaries in music, literature, business, science, politics, and other fields, he explores why some individuals become famous and others don't and offers a new understanding of the role of greatness, luck, and contingency in the achievement of fame. First, Sunstein examines recent research-on informational cascades, power laws, network effects, and group polarization-to probe the question of how people become famous. He explores what ends up in the history books, in the great religious texts, and in the literary canon-and how that changes radically over time. He delves into the rich and entertaining stories of a diverse cast of famous characters, from John Keats, William Blake, and Jane Austen to Bob Dylan, Ayn Rand, and Stan Lee-as well as John, Paul, George, and Ringo. How to Become Famous takes you on a fun, captivating, and at times profound journey that will forever change your perspective on the latest celebrity's "fifteen minutes," the nature of memory, success and failure in business, and our enduring fascination with fame"-- [Provided by publisher]

Table of Contents:

• Prologue: the crossroads
• Part I: iconic
• Sliding doors
• Shocks and surprises
• Magic
• The elephant in the room
• Part II: icons
• "Stolen, stolen be your apples"
• The force
• The irresistible Stan Lee
• Bob Dylan and habituation
• Houdini's greatest challenge
• The cult of Ayn Rand
• John, Paul, George, and Ringo
• Epilogue: "placed in favourable situations".

Author/Creator:

Sunstein, Cass R. , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

How to become famous: lost Einsteins, forgotten superstars, and how the Beatles came to be [by Sunstein, C.R.]

Other Related Resources:

Print version: How to become famous [by Sunstein, C.R.] (Boston, Massachusetts : Harvard Business Review Press, [2023] — ISBN 9781647825362; LCCN 2023046080)

Subjects:

Success

Fame

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on May 24, 2024).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Call Numbers:

BJ1611.2 .S825 2023

ISBNs:

9781647825379 (electronic book)
1647825377 (electronic book)
9781647825362 (hardcover) [Invalid]

Library of Congress Control Numbers:

2023046081

OCLC Numbers:

1415801332

Other Control Numbers:

EBC7271005 (source: MiAaPQ)
[Unknown Type]: ybp306309441