Helena Goscilo is Professor and Chair of Slavic at the Ohio State University, USA. Her recent publications include (as co-editor) Preserving Petersburg: History, Memory, Nostalgia and Cinepaternity: Fathers and Sons in Soviet and Post-Soviet Film.

This is the first book to explore the phenomenon of glamour and celebrity in contemporary Russian culture, ranging across media forms, disciplinary boundaries and modes of inquiry, with particular emphasis on the media personality. Considering both general tendencies and individual celebrities, it examines the internal dynamics of the institutions involved in the production, marketing and maintenance of celebrities, and the context and imperatives which drive Russian society's fascination with glamour and celebrity.

Part I The Art of Politics, and the Politics of Art 1. The Ultimate Celebrity: VVP as VIP Objet d'Art 2. The Mistress of Moscow: a Case of Corporate Celebrity Part II Prosaic Glamour 3. Akunin's Secret and Fandorin's Luck: Postmodern Celebrity in Post-Soviet Russia 4. Glamour à la Oksana Robski - Tatiana Mikhailova Part III Mediating Glamour: Film, Estrada, and New Media Stars 5. Fatherland, Family, and Faith: The Power of Nikita Mikhalkov's Celebrity 6. "Much Ado and Nothing:" Mikhail Zadornov as a Celebrity of Russian Comedy 7. Russian Internet Stars: Gizmos, Geeks, and Glory Part IV Gendered Sounds and Screams of Stardom 8. Feminism à la Russe? Pugacheva-Orbakaite's Celebrity Construction through Family Bonds 9. Elevating Verka Serdiuchka: A Star-Study in Excess Performativity Part V Moscow Snobbery: From 'High' Art to Haute Cuisine 10. Zurab Tsereteli's Exegi Monumentum, Luzhkov's Largesse, and the Collateral Rewards of Animosity 11. Hot Prospekts: Dining in the New Moscow