It's Terrible the Things I Have to Do to Be Me: On Femininity and Fame

A collection of essays exploring femininity, self-image and performance in the lives of iconic famous women

'Turns female celebrity inside-out. One of the most enjoyable books of the year' Nicole Flattery, author of Show Them A Good Time

'An instant classic from the sharpest cultural critic working today. I couldn't put it down' Allie Rowbottom, author of Aesthetica
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How does an icon become an icon? How did Anna Nicole Smith model herself on Marilyn Monroe? What connects Lindsay Lohan with Elizabeth Taylor? How is self-made beauty Pamela Anderson like trans bond girl Caroline 'Tula' Cossey?

In a series of interconnected essays about pairs of famous women, award-nominated essayist and art critic Philippa Snow explores the echoes and connections between a constellation of female stars and lays bare the artful and gruelling demands of femininity - from the golden age of Hollywood to the Instagram era. Full of the fascinating, entertaining and lurid details you might expect from the lives of mega-famous celebrities, dissected with icicle-sharp intelligence and rendered in stylish, flamboyant prose, Philippa Snow's first full-length non-fiction work is a radically insightful book about the complex meanings and layers of femininity in a male-dominated world.