Product Description

'Hugely enjoyable.'

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126910 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
'Starstruck is Landesman's exasperated, often hilarious family memoir interwoven with a thoughtful history of stardom and cultural success in post-war Britain.'
--Sunday Times

Review
'Offers a more truthful insight into the period than any academic, politician or historian could offer'

Review
'What is wonderful is the process of falling in love with the larger-than-life Landesman family...(an) enjoyable...very funny book'

Customer Reviews

Starstruck: Fame, Failure, My Family and Me
Cosmo Landesman, who moonlights as The Sunday Times film critic, has written a fascinating and very funny memoir about his fame-obsessed parents. Fran and Jay Landesman, now both in their eighties have eternally been on the periphery of international fame: they hung out with the leading lights of the Beat Generation in New York, and when they moved to Swinging London in the Sixties were close friends with the Scene's stars like John Lennon and Peter Cook. Jay Landesman, especially, was always conscious of being the least famous people in the room.

Cosmo Landesman professes to have been embarrassed by his self-obsessed parents' `bohemian' behaviour all his life. For example, he was especially mortified when they had a well-publicised open marriage.

The actual story of the Landesman family is gripping stuff, and the author illustrates his family saga with periodic journalistic styled prose about today's version of fame: the Celebrity Me generation, who believe it's their right to be famous for at least one minute.

I would have thought that Mr and Mrs Landesman would have been horrified by their son's 'Parents Dearest' account of their fame hungry lives, but apparently they are delighted that they are back in the limelight.