List Price: $26.99 Details

Save: $11.82 (44%)

$3.98 delivery: Nov 30 - Dec 6

Only 2 left in stock - order soon.

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

$$15.17 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Planet Bookstore

Sold by

Planet Bookstore

Details

Ships from

Planet Bookstore

Sold by

Planet Bookstore

Return policy: Returnable until Jan 31, 2022

FREE delivery: Nov 24 - Dec 1

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Better World Books

Share <Embed>

Other Sellers on Amazon

$18.29
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: PURE BOOK SALES

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Authors

S. Mark Young

Dr. Drew Pinsky

The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Seducing America Hardcover – Bargain Price, March 17, 2009

by Drew Pinsky (Author), S. Mark Young (Author)

88 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$12.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$21.99

$8.01

$0.36

Hardcover, Bargain Price, March 17, 2009

$15.17

$4.22

Paperback

"Please retry"

$11.20

$6.44

$1.58

Audio CD

"Please retry"

—

$714.69

Enhance your purchase

Reality TV. Celebutantes. YouTube. Sex Tapes. Gossip Blogs. Drunk Driving. Tabloids. Drug Overdoses.

Is this entertainment? Why do we keep watching? What does it mean for our kids?

In the last decade, the face of entertainment has changed radically—and dangerously, as addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky and business and entertainment expert Dr. S. Mark Young argue in this eye-opening new book. The soap opera of celebrity behavior we all consume on a daily basis—stories of stars treating rehab like vacation, brazen displays of abusive and self-destructive "diva" antics on TV, shocking sexual imagery in prime time and online, and a constant parade of stars crashing and burning—attracts a huge and hungry audience. As Pinsky and Young show in The Mirror Effect, however, such behavior actually points to a wide-ranging psychological dysfunction among celebrities that may be spreading to the culture at large: the condition known as narcissism.

The host of VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and of the long-running radio show Loveline, Pinsky recently teamed with Young to conduct the first-ever study of narcissism among celebrities. In the process, they discovered that a high proportion of stars suffer from traits associated with clinical narcissism—including vanity, exhibitionism, entitlement, exploitativeness, self-sufficiency, authority, and superiority. Now, in The Mirror Effect, they explore how these stars, and the media, are modeling such behavior for public consumption—and how the rest of us, especially young people, are mirroring these dangerous traits in our own behavior.

Looking at phenomena as diverse as tabloid exploitation ("Stars . . . they're just like us!"), reality-TV train wrecks (from The Anna Nicole Show to My Super Sweet 16 to Bad Girls Club), gossip websites (TMZ, PerezHilton, Gawker), and the ever-evolving circle of pop divas known as celebutantes (or, more cruelly, celebutards), The Mirror Effect reveals how figures like Britney and Paris and Lindsay and Amy Winehouse—and their media enablers—have changed what we consider "normal" behavior. It traces the causes of disturbing celebrity antics to their roots in self-hatred and ultimately in childhood disconnection or trauma. And it explores how YouTube, online social networks, and personal blogs offer the temptations and dangers of instant celebrity to the most vulnerable among us.

Informed and provocative, with the warm and empathetic perspective that has won Dr. Drew Pinsky legions of fans, The Mirror Effect raises important questions about our changing culture—and provides insights for parents, young people, and anyone who wonders what celebrity culture is doing to America.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper
Publication date

March 17, 2009
Dimensions

6 x 0.97 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

1616794305
ISBN-13

978-1616794309
See all details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Dr. Drew Pinsky
20
Hardcover
51 offers from $12.59
Drew Pinsky
319
Hardcover
95 offers from $1.38
Adam Corolla
67
Paperback
30 offers from $1.95
Drew Pinsky
30
Paperback
47 offers from $1.77

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Dr. Drew Pinsky
20
Hardcover
51 offers from $12.59
Drew Pinsky
319
Paperback
96 offers from $1.41
Stephen Witt
418
Paperback
57 offers from $2.86
Edward Jay Epstein
59
Paperback
27 offers from $4.25
Adam Corolla
67
Paperback
30 offers from $1.95

Special offers and product promotions

Create your FREE Amazon Business account to save up to 10% with Business-only prices and free shipping.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“When it comes to judging celebrities and their behavior, it might be best to take a good look in the mirror.” (New York Post )

“Pinsky spells out a theory that stars are predisposed to narcissistic personality disorder long before they become famous….[The Mirror Effect] becomes a psychology lesson with celebrities as examples.” (Wired )

“Drew and Mark [talk] about the changing perception of celebrities, the hidden narcissism in all of us, and what parents can do to save their kids from the cult of Miley Cyrus.” (Babble.com )

“A compelling and intelligent study of the repercussions of today’s fame-obsessed society.” (Flavorpill.com )

“The Mirror Effect is a smooth read.…It stresses the importance of learning empathy, and how to pass that on to impressionable young people.…a how-to guide for social change that promotes individual progress.” (LAist )

About the Author

One of the most listened-to doctors in America, Dr. Drew Pinsky is a practicing physician who is board certified in internal and addiction medicine. He is the executive producer and host of the hit VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House, and Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew. On radio he is the host of the nationally syndicated program Loveline. He is the author of Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again and When Painkillers Become Dangerous. Pinsky lives in Southern California with his wife, Susan, and their teenage triplets.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002NSLMUE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; 1st edition (March 17, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1616794305
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1616794309
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.97 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,052,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,826 in Popular Social Psychology & Interactions
- #11,397 in Deals in Books
- #14,166 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences

Customer Reviews:
88 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

S. Mark Young

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

S. Mark Young holds the George Bozanic and Holman G. Hurt Chair in Sports and Entertainment Business at the University of Southern California. Dr. Young is also a Professor of Accounting in the Leventhal School of Accounting and holds joint appointments as Professor of Management and Organization in the Marshall School of Business, and Professor of Communication in the Annenberg School of Communication. His research in the entertainment area focuses on the psychology and economics of celebrity and the factors that influence the success of major motion pictures. His paper with Drew Pinsky, "Narcissism and Celebrity," (Journal of Research in Personality) was the first to gather a large sample of data on the celebrity personality. This study was included in the New York Times Year in Ideas special issue as one of the top ideas of 2006. His most recent book with Drew Pinsky, The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America, (Harper Collins, 2009), is an analysis of how celebrity acting out behavior is having a profound negative effect on American youth and society. This book was on both the New York Times and LA Times Best Selling Lists. Dr. Young has won outstanding teaching awards at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and several international research awards. Mark has appeared on the CNN's The Situation Room, The View, The Howard Stern Show, Fox & Friends, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, ABC News Now, Fox Business Channel, the KTLA Morning News, and the Fox Strategy Room, and has been interviewed by Laura Ingraham, Mitch Albom, the BBC, the New York Times, the LA Times, National Public Radio, Marketplace, The London Times, Scientific American Mind, Men's Fitness, the Associated Press, Newsweek, Woman's Wear Daily, and comments regularly in the business and entertainment presses.

Mark also has an avid interest in the history and sociology of space toys and their connection to science fiction. He is a coauthor of the book (Dark Horse, 2001) "Blast Off! Rockets, Robots, Ray Guns and Rarities from the Golden Age of Space Toys," with Mike Richardson (President of Dark Horse Comics) and Steve Duin (columnist for the Portland Oregonian newspaper).

Customer reviews

5 star		64%
4 star		16%
3 star		9%
2 star		7%
1 star		4%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Korey Getty

Not as informative as I hoped, also old

Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

Let me say, I'm an unbelievably huge fan of Dr. Drew, even through all the hell he went for exposing COVID for what it truly was: a bad flu. But I thought I was going to get a deep dive of human narcissism and other facets of the field. This is not a very informative book but more of a warning to parents about their kids. I think Dr. Drew's CRACKED is a much better book and actually got me to quit many bad habits I've formed throughout my childhood. CRACKED was one of most favored books that I bought additional copies for family & friends. I sadly don't recommend this book as it's not very informative or "helps" the reader with their own narcissistic flaws. The book is also dated with it's references and the problems it tries to attract. Kids & teenagers don't really watch Jersey Shore, MTV, or Teen Mom anymore as they now are just glued to their phone and Tik Tok. If you want the absolute best anthropological insight of everything going on today listen to The Adam & Dr. Drew Show.

Helpful

Don Chin

Insightful Read For Most Any Person

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2016

Verified Purchase

An interesting read and helpful in understanding ourselves better. It gives insight into today's issues regarding the influence of celebrity and social media on this generation. My wife and I both read this and are using our discussions to help better our relationship with one another. There is a test in the index which we took individually, and we concentrated mainly on the areas where we scored higher in rather than the numbers themselves. Most of us need to work on focusing on ourselves less and others more.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kiel Eorio

Proactive Parenting > Reactive Parenting

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

Dr. Drew gives get examples and studies on how being an involved parent (not a helicopter parent) makes a great difference in a child’s life. Parents need to be parents, not their kids ‘best friend’. This book just solidified how I want to parent. Thank you Dr. Drew.

Helpful

Raggson Media

Must read for parents of adolescents and young adults

Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2010

Verified Purchase

Here is my premise, please feel free to skip: To be honest, I don't don't really like Dr. Drew very much, but I do think that he is a good physician. I also feel that educating the general public on the disastrous repercussions of drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, and other self-destructive behaviors that effect millions of people is paramount in addressing these problems. However, it is my opinion that television shows such as Celebrity Rehab and 16 and Pregnant are actually detrimental, considering the target audience. By sensationalizing chronic drug abuse among celebrities and other peers of the target audience, not only does the care of the patients suffer, the intended message of the dangers of drug abuse is diminished. As a medical professional, I feel as though all of these shows undermine the severity of these disease, and are more about entertainment and ratings than rehabilitation and care.

Now, as for the book: I think this book is very well written and makes some excellent points about how celebrities' behavior and constant media coverage of such behavior is become destructive to children, adolescents, and families. The emergence of "celeb-utants", who derive fame from drug use, sex-tapes, and other late-night antics set an awful example for young people. Added to the fact that their celebrity status leads to essentially no legal consequences (such as less than hour in jail), impressionable young people are imprinted with the notion that success and irresponsible behavior are not mutually exclusive. I know that this sounds like a ridicule by a cynically, out-of-touch loser, and maybe that is true. But I am also a medical professional and am younger than most of the people referenced in the group.

I feel as though though this book takes an important step away from sensationalizing the abhorrent behavior exhibited by many celebrities and takes a more realistic and pertinent reflection on how manage them. It is also appropriate for young adults, who are the primary beneficiaries of the book. I would recommend this book for parents; read it, and then give it to your teenage kids to read. It's not a "shock and awe" book meant to instill fear in readers, but rather provides relevant educational content that is useful to a large demographic.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

C. Talbert

A buzzkill worth reading

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2009

Verified Purchase

Other reviewers have, correctly, pointed out that this book is not a breakthrough. The same message, or at least a very similar one, has been shown in other research and stated by other people long ago (you'll find that Pinsky and Young cite plenty of them). Even Pinsky and Young's major contribution to the peer-reviewed literature on narcissism, their scientific study on celebrity narcissism, was published more than two years ago in October of 2006 and was widely publicized by the end of that year.

I will even go a step further and say that this book is a buzzkill. In reading the first chapter, "Modern Celebrity: From Marilyn to Miley," unless you have been living in a cave you will probably find that Drew has some harsh criticism for people, things, or behaviors that you're a fan of or have indulged in. For that matter he would probably find some fault with voluntary modern-day cave-dwellers, if only because they would be a great topic for a reality TV show. In fact, sex advice columnist Dan Savage recently described Dr. Drew as "a BDSM-o-phobe, a premarital-sex-o-phobe [and] a three-way-o-phobe" going on to say, "when it comes to human sexuality, there's not a lot of daylight between Dr. Drew and Pope Benedict XVI."

All of these, of course, are horrible reasons to ignore Drew's message, and if you do, it is at your own peril. Drew isn't asking anyone to wear a hairshirt, preform prostrations or to avoid having sex before marriage (although it may be healthy to wait until after your 18th birthday before having sex, and long after that before marriage). The point here is that narcissistic traits are transmitted generationally and that the conditions creating them (such as childhood trauma and modeling of narcissistic behavior in media) are increasing. Drew demonstrates convincingly that high-levels of narcissism are not only unhealthy for the people with them, but also shows when these traits become pervasive in a society they create a toxic culture.

The real value of this book, however, isn't in it's description of narcissism or in documenting the increasing prevalence of narcissism, it's that it provides a meaningful vision. It's not glib advice, Drew never says anything like "stop with the three-ways, BDSM and drugs." It's not about that. Chapters Nine and Ten give valuable advice to parents and to the rest of us in terms of things to do rather than things to avoid. In Chapter Ten Drew lists them in seven steps: strive for increased self-insight and embrace the concept of something greater, practice rigorous honesty, keep things simple and live up to commitments, spend time with a broad range of people, share your feelings, learn to appreciate the feelings of others, and be of service.

Longtime Loveline listeners will appreciate the commentary about Dr. Phil in Chapter Four, and Adam Carolla in Appendix A.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Joey L. Carroll

Interesting read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2013

Verified Purchase

Love Dr. Drews insights into our society, enjoyed this book as well as his other book and the one he co-wrote with Adam Carolla.

Gail Watkins

An Engrossing Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2012

Verified Purchase

This was an engrossing read and also a little scary for those of us who are parents,
but also a useful read for any child care professionals.

Dr Drew Pinsky along with Mark Young look at what they call the Narcissistic Personality and the prevalence of those characteristics amongst many of those in the Public eye and how 'normalising' some of their behaviour e.g. heavy drinking, sexualised behaviour, substance abuse etc. can effect our children by changing what they consider to be normal behaviours. The more we see and read about it in celebrity/gossip magazines and on the Internet the more normal and acceptable to behaviour becomes, without realising that often we are witnessing the incredibly difficult/torrid behaviour and breakdown of some very damaged individuals. A Fab Read

One person found this helpful

See all reviews