cover image The Fame Game: How to Make the Most of Your 15 Minutes

The Fame Game: How to Make the Most of Your 15 Minutes

Michael Flocker. Da Capo Press, $12.95 (188pp) ISBN 978-0-306-81424-2

Flocker, author of the best-selling The Metrosexual Guide to Style, is back with another petite of-the-moment book: how to become famous, stay famous and enjoy fame, or, for those whom the spotlight shuns (or misses), using the same tactics to ""give yourself a nice little edge in the job interview, a seductive advantage in the realm of romance, or the simple confidence to pull focus in your direction at will."" A catchy design that includes dozens of bullet points, lists, graphics, quizzes and fame-related quotes gleaned from sources as varied as Henry Kissinger and Lucille Ball almost disguise the dearth of new advice. Some readers may be put off by the inconsistent tone: the feel-good platitude, ""Anything is possible in this life,"" comes from the same chapter, for instance, as ""Don't waste time volunteering for those crap jobs no one else wants to do."" Flocker employs an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach and organizes chapters in such a way as to assess readers' physicality, confidence, charm and individuality. Later chapters cover body language, creating an aura, the importance of scandal and surviving celebrity. The book makes a nice stopgap for those who can't afford a battery of spokespeople, stylists, bodyguards and the wardrobe, but who think they one day will.