The Sixteenth Minute: Life in the Aftermath of Fame

by Jeff Guinn, Douglas Perry

In a social exploration based on Andy Warhol's prognosis that everyone is famous for fifteen minutes, the authors explore the consequences of short-period fame as experienced by one-hit-wonder artists, short-career professional sports athletes, political figures, reality television celebrities, and others. 30,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jeff Guinn is a former journalist who has won national, regional and state awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, and literary criticism.

Guinn is also the bestselling author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction including, but not limited to: Go Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde (which was a finalist for an Edgar Award in 2010); The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral - and How It Changed the West; Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson; and The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple.

Jeff Guinn is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. He appears as an expert guest in documentaries and on television programs on a variety of topics.

Guinn lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

Reviews

[Justlesa Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book but for it to have been written in 2005, the references seem out dated. There was a lot of information just not very interesting.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing...

I should have known from the jacket, all the people selected had far more than 15 minutes of fame, but the topic is intriguing so I read it anyway.
One had over 25 years (by any conservative account of time) - not 15 minutes - in the spotlight. After reading the book, I got the idea the people were selected because the authors had access to them and not because they illustrated anything significant about the aftermath of fame.

The authors devote far more text to the RISE to fame and TIME OF fame than to the aftermath of fame. What little analysis provided by the authors is limp. Gerry Cooney is the only one providing any depth on subject stated in the title. Jim Wright gives a perspective of what drives someone to achieve fame in politics.

I gave this 3 stars (and not one or two) because the stories were interesting and have value, especially the ones on Susan McDougal and Melvin Dummas. But the book does not fulfill the promise of the title which is a promise that deserves to be filled.

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

If the subjects had been a bit more interesting to me in the first place, I may have enjoyed this book more. As it was, I cared very little about them and did absolutely no follow up reading on any of them. That is an extremely rare situation when I read nonfiction. I found myself dreading the end of each story, simply because I knew there was more about Melvin Dummar to come. His story was by far the most agonizing to read. Overall, I would rate this book quite low. I finished it only because I cannot stand to put away unfinished books.

[Lesley Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

15 minutes' stuff.