The Celebrity Circus by Elsa Maxwell
Maxwell, Elsa. The Celebrity Circus. First Edition. 1963. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition—jacket shows a minor fraying and a repaired tear to the upper cover. Introduction by Noel Coward.
Café society den mother and columnist Elsa Maxwell is not always remembered fondly. She was too brassy, too bombastic for that. And yet that was part of her attraction, as was her willingness to engage in public feuds with A-listers such as the Duchess of Windsor and Maria Callas (drama enhances celebrity). Her kind of fame was a precursor of the Real Housewife, social media influencer fame that exists today. As such, her understanding of the subject as it existed in the mid-20th Century remains surprisingly relevant. There is plenty of advice for the person seeking to make him or herself a boldfaced name, including when not to go too far. And she is tough on bores and name-droppers. As to the latter, she advises discretion. “The best way to boast about people you know is by not mentioning them,” cautions Elsa. (Advice she rarely followed herself.)
“[A] celebrity is someone who knows how to make headlines—through luck, or magic, or a good press agent, or all three. Whatever the secret, I do know that continuing publicity is the lifeblood of fame. It spells the difference between legend and oblivion.”
--Elsa Maxwell