How to Become Famous

""To probe the mystery of why some people become famous and others don't, Sunstein calls on compelling studies from experimental psychology and behavioural science."" ""…a thought-provoking read…"" — Financial Times ""…he delivers a fascinating crash course on why some people—or bands or movies or works of art—become famous."" — Kirkus Reviews Advance Praise for How to Become Famous: ""What do the Beatles, Star Wars, Bob Dylan, and Shakespeare have in common? They are all extraordinarily famous. But why? That's the question that Cass Sunstein answers in this book, and the answer is so much more interesting, surprising, and counterintuitive than you can imagine. The book won't tell you how to become famous, but it will help you understand fame—and its sibling, success—in a radically new way. If you read and understand this book, the world will never look the same to you again."" — Duncan Watts, Stevens University Professor and PIK Professor, University of Pennsylvania ""A book that could also be titled Tales to Astonish. Cass Sunstein looks, mouth agape, at examples of those on whom fortune has smiled, as well as at examples of those who have inexplicably been denied its favor, connecting the dots all the while. A fun, potent, and vital examination, and a reminder of the cultural responsibility we all share to pay attention."" — Howard Fishman, author, To Anyone Who Ever Asks: The Life, Music, and Mystery of Connie Converse ""Who better to explain fame in the modern world than Cass Sunstein? In How to Become Famous, he gives us a tour de force of social scientific observation about the nature of fame, its mechanisms, and how it can end up unfairly distributed."" — Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University