cover image Where's My Fifteen Minutes: Get Your Company, Your Career, or Yourself the Recognition You Deserve

Where's My Fifteen Minutes: Get Your Company, Your Career, or Yourself the Recognition You Deserve

Howard Bragman, with Michael Levin. . Portfolio, $25.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-1-59184-236-1

With 30 years in public relations, Bragman offers an insider's perspective on creating—or refurbishing—a personal image or brand. His book reads like a who's who of his celebrity clients, from Cameron Diaz to Paula Abdul, lending a sensational quality to the text; Bragman is more on point when he sticks to such details as building a believable and authentic image, describing the finer points of creating an effective Internet presence and knowing when to seek publicity. He makes canny observations about the melding of public relations and the “new media” and sharp advice on how to navigate the divide between perception and reality. But there remains a schizophrenic quality to the book, as readers are instructed to apply celebrity PR and media relations techniques wisdom to their daily lives; the author claims his methods will benefit everyone from the “local environmentalist trying to effect change” to the state representative looking for a writeup in the hometown paper. But Bragman's arguments are more apropos for the glitterati and not for the fictional PTA bent on a recycling initiative. (Jan.)