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

It happens quickly in our culture. You go hiking one day and end up sawing off your own arm with a pocketknife. You collapse under the pressure of selecting the perfect font for your wedding invitations so you runaway on a Greyhound, surfacing in Vegas casinos and spreading racist lies. You are held hostage by an escaped murderer and you read him inspirational texts in a bid to convince him to surrender. These, or any number of other circumstances happens to you and suddenly you’re on primetime television, you’ve got book deals, you’re the subject of movies of the week and reality shows, reporters are on your doorstep, and helicopters flying overhead.

Then again, maybe you haven’t experienced any of these extraordinary events, but you want to get more attention from the corner office boss, the waitress at the neighborhood pub, or from the coach who buries you at the end of the bench. If so, The Fame Game: How to Make the Most of Your 15 Minutes by Michael Flocker is for you. If you can’t afford a cadre of stylists and spin doctors, this neat little text strives to fill that void.

Flocker’s book is cleverly designed, humorously written, and organized in such a way that you can work on your physical being, build confidence, improve your body language, build mystery, survive (and even exploit) a scandal, and live through the trials and tribulations of fame once you reach that lofty plateau. He endeavors to fill your fame toolbox with all the skills you’ll need. Our society’s attitudes towards fame may be a good or bad thing, but it’s an unavoidable game if you want to get ahead. Flocker writes: “Western culture has evolved, or devolved, depending on how you look at it, into a wildly competitive blur of achievement, ambition, and individualism. Custom-fitted celebrity is now available to anyone, in any size and at any price.”

One of the questionable aspect of the book is its middle-of-the-road approach to the subject matter. The cover proclaims “Why be yourself when you can be a star?”, but then Flocker indicates that chasing celebrity for its own sake is an empty pursuit. He writes:

If you choose acting, or any other field of endeavor, with only a distant dream of flashing lights and giddy euphoria, you are in for some serious disappointment. That is not a goal, it is a fantasy… Success is achieved over time by taking incremental steps that build on one another… The people who succeed in life, on any level, tend to have a clear understanding that they are embarking on a very long road. Through determination and willpower, they make choices that lead them in the right direction.

Still, some passages are funny, full of wit and satire, which easily suit a book about attracting attention. Other passages are surprisingly honest, sincere and realistic. Although Flocker mentions our culture’s fascination with talentless celebrities, he also reminds that it’s a great deal of hard work over the long haul. In this way, The Fame Game veers from over-the-top, snarky skewering of celebrity culture to legitimate suggestions on personal growth. Some may view this as a positive characteristic of the book, while others would prefer that Flocker turn up the volume on one topic or the other.

There are, without a doubt, humorous and insightful sections in The Fame Game. In a section on planning ahead for immortality, Flocker suggests that “though it is the life you lead that will ultimately script the legend, it is your personal duty to maintain a scrupulously documented archive of your existence on the planet for those who may follow and seek to discover your true story.” Flocker points out that the key is simply to be prepared by keeping records and editing selectively. His laundry list of items to put in the time capsule include flattering photographs from various stages of life, significant letters including mash notes and also rejections from editors/producers/employers, major wardrobe items, childhood bric-a-brac that will add sentimentality, unfinished manuscripts, and press clippings. Reading over Flocker’s entertaining description of this celebrity grocery list, you can just picture the E! True Hollywood Story or Behind the Music episode coming together. Follow his advice, and the producers will have an easy time immortalizing your life.

Flocker does turn up the snark in a section entitled “Who is Tara Reid?” The real object of examination here is the American Pie actress’s publicist. Publicists, Flocker explains, can accomplish great things for anyone’s career. He writes about his ignorance of Reid’s:

I have never seen her in any movie or television program, but from what I gather she is an actress. As of the writing of these words, I have never even heard her speak, yet somehow, I am aware of her presence on the planet and the state of her left breast… The mere fact that I can recognize her in photographs and put a face to the name is a testament to the power of publicity.

Our culture is in a position where “celebrity in the 21st century is such that name recognition precedes talent,” Flocker states. And “there is no one on earth who exemplifies this phenomenon more clearly than the ubiquitous Paris Hilton. She is famous for nothing.” Flocker’s hilarious examination of Hilton’s maneuvering behind the sex tape scandal is worth the price of admission here alone.

An entertaining read that might just help you make an impression in the boardroom or attract legions of paparazzi to your doorstep, Michael Flocker’s The Fame Game presents some humorous and useful tips necessary for understanding the modern science of celebrity.