Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Hardcover
$29.90

Paperback
$33.00

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon.

Select delivery location

Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. Details

$$33.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

FREE delivery Friday, April 5. Details

Or fastest delivery April 3 - 4. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Martistore

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Follow the author

Tyler Cowen

Follow

What Price Fame? Paperback – March 8, 2002

by Tyler Cowen (Author)

5

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$33.00","priceAmount":33.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"33","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"TEuded8FYz%2FzgMv3a4MelkHszS6sD2BlQXqShIUqlBvmVfe1U3zlCiYE4J9XOn2YqVG7%2FdCgtDY%2FppbCWtQ%2BH544Bc3CftPcrewix2kCWxFB3dsUgbd%2BOlqoSCI%2BKhuYwUNpxPgi4zA%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$28.14","priceAmount":28.14,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"28","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"14","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"TEuded8FYz%2FzgMv3a4MelkHszS6sD2BlfqvvcdKBIMzbbxxzQ6S7k5IQ9eT%2FflS6croL5ccZeB9JMkdI9mUJgbESelHZaFJB%2FbmM4dRS4P9nt8AAk9%2Bi5YHBtuReP7RQgFF%2B8wtEX3VIZPYKf6SAJFMfKphOo%2BT6zJZxcP9FFzcBMb5NYrsZWyDeoLN%2FYUMy","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

In a world where more people know who Princess Di was than who their own senators are, where Graceland draws more visitors per year than the White House, and where Michael Jordan is an industry unto himself, fame and celebrity are central currencies. In this intriguing book, Tyler Cowen explores and elucidates the economics of fame.

Fame motivates the talented and draws like-minded fans together. But it also may put profitability ahead of quality, visibility above subtlety, and privacy out of reach. The separation of fame and merit is one of the central dilemmas Cowen considers in his account of the modern market economy. He shows how fame is produced, outlines the principles that govern who becomes famous and why, and discusses whether fame-seeking behavior harmonizes individual and social interests or corrupts social discourse and degrades culture.

Most pertinently, Cowen considers the implications of modern fame for creativity, privacy, and morality. Where critics from Plato to Allan Bloom have decried the quest for fame, Cowen takes a more pragmatic, optimistic view. He identifies the benefits of a fame-intensive society and makes a persuasive case that however bad fame may turn out to be for the famous, it is generally good for society and culture.

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harvard University Press
Publication date

March 8, 2002
Dimensions

5.2 x 0.73 x 7.96 inches
ISBN-10

067400809X
ISBN-13

978-0674008090
See all details

Tyler Cowen
224
Hardcover
86 offers from $3.35
Tyler Cowen
339
Hardcover
57 offers from $5.09
Tyler Cowen
544
Paperback
51 offers from $2.10
Tyler Cowen
107
Hardcover
53 offers from $4.44
Tyler Cowen
121
Paperback
53 offers from $10.91
Tyler Cowen
475
Hardcover
56 offers from $1.75

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Primarily a look at the economic implications of our fame-driven culture, this compelling book, which reads like a long essay, also offers a philosophical meditation on the social and moral impact of fame on our public and private lives...[Cowen's] graceful prose and refreshing perspective on the occasionally bizarre effects of capitalism will be enough to engage thoughtful readers.”―Publishers Weekly

“[This book] is a short but dexterous handling of the phenomenon of fame. Addressing the American obsession with such, Cowen avoids the rhetorical pitfalls of sweeping disregard and the dangers of excessive adulation.”―Doubletake

“Cowen's argument is broad-ranging, drawing from both classical and modern sources in ways that few authors would be equipped to do. It is intelligently and gracefully reasoned. It might persuade even some of the most severe critics of the current cultural scene to rethink some of their positions. There is an enormous amount of fresh thinking here on some extremely interesting and important topics.”―Robert H. Frank, author of Luxury Fever and (with Philip J. Cook) The Winner-Take-All Society

“The aim of Tyler Cowen's book is to solve some basic puzzles about fame using the tools of economics. This approach works splendidly. The questions he has chosen to address are among the most interesting one can ask about the subject; the answers he provides are chockful of counterintuitive implications, yet eminently persuasive. Even when the ideas are technical, the style is never less than lucid and is often very elegant.”―Leo Katz, author of Ill-Gotten Gains: Evasion, Blackmail, Fraud, and Kindred Puzzles of the Law

“Technology has increased the possibilities for being well known, and the willingness of social scientists to analyze it. The subject has been largely ignored by economists and is worthy of systematic analysis. This book is fun to read. It ranges widely and is laden with empirical examples and memorable anecdotes The arguments are provocative and thoughtful, with a little exasperation thrown in to keep readers engaged, sometimes enraged, and, in all cases on their toes.”―Sherwin Rosen, Journal of Cultural Economics

About the Author

Tyler Cowen is Professor of Economics at George Mason University.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press; Revised edition (March 8, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 067400809X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674008090
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.73 x 7.96 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #5,083,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,964 in Commerce (Books)
- #5,030 in Theory of Economics
- #17,303 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences

Customer Reviews:
5

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

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

Tyler Cowen

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Tyler Cowen (/ˈkaʊ.ən/; born January 21, 1962) is an American economist, academic, and writer. He occupies the Holbert L. Harris Chair of economics, as a professor at George Mason University, and is co-author, with Alex Tabarrok, of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution. Cowen and Tabarrok have also ventured into online education by starting Marginal Revolution University. He currently writes a regular column for Bloomberg View. He also has written for such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Time, Wired, Newsweek, and the Wilson Quarterly. Cowen also serves as faculty director of George Mason's Mercatus Center, a university research center that focuses on the market economy. In February 2011, Cowen received a nomination as one of the most influential economists in the last decade in a survey by The Economist. He was ranked #72 among the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" in 2011 by Foreign Policy Magazine "for finding markets in everything."

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

5 global ratings

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

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

Ana

Amazing buy

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2012

I've wanted this book for so long. I even found a free .pdf file of it online and downloaded it to my phone! But I still wanted the book because as a writer, I value the time others have poured into their work. Cliche, I know. Anyway, I'm in a situation where I have needed to pinch pennies, so I wasn't willing to shell out twenty bucks for a book. Luckily, my best friend remembered the name and got it for me for Christmas! Let me tell you, my head was stuck inside this book all Christmas morning! I'm writing a novel about the dark side of fame, and this book has provided great insight that has made my book more believable.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

TV lover

Refreshing Social Science Research

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2023

I first encountered this book at Powell's in Hyde Park. To a first/second year PhD economics student enrolled at the University of Chicago, this was a book both familiar in its application of Price Theory and yet strange in its lack of equations and econometrics fashionable in the early-2000s. It provides a refreshing inspiration on how to conduct research.

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2004

I've always been fascinated with what being famous does to a person's life but there are surprisingly few intelligent books on the subject. This one comes sorta close but the guy's an economics professor so everything is seen through that lens. There are some really engaging ideas here but overall it was pretty dense reading and kinda dull.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Peter-S

The Real "New Economy"

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2000

With a simple conceit, the application of microeconomic theory to the culture of celebrity, Cowen generates fresh insight into the rising proliferation of stars and heroes in our world. By erecting an economic platform from which look at the phenomenon, he is able to stand apart from the usual moralizing approach taken by cultural critics. This is not to say he doesn't consider the views of both cultural optimists and pessimists in his discussion. Indeed, he writes a history of cultural pessimists and optimists starting with the Greeks. However,by giving us a new place to stand and a new perspective from which to examine fame and its pursuit, he performs a valuable service.
Cowen's view of 'fame markets' is in his own words 'largely optimistic,' a view based on the notion that 'markets increase the supply of star performances and the supply of fame with remarkable facility.' At the same time he is well aware that fame markets do not necessarily reward the virtuous. In his own words, he notes "modern fame removes the luster from societal role models" and "intense media scrutiny makes almost all individuals look less meritorious." He points out that media seeks profits, promoting images that will attract viewers, not images that "support the dignity of office."
What stands out in this 'economic' view of fame is Cowen's belief that the past efforts of highly visible reformers and moral and religious leaders have borne fruit to the extent that we as a society no longer need them as much as in the past. It is his contention that moral leaders are more spread among us as compared to earlier times when such leaders occupied high stations in the fame pantheon. This lower visibility of moral leaders, he believes, creates the incorrect perception of a society without moral leadership.
A pithy and enjoyable book whose great strength and only failing is its narrowness of focus. The celebrities we choose say something more about us than this relentlessly economic view would suggest.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Return this item for free

Image Unavailable

Follow the author