In today's world, celebrity if a force almost as powerful as gravity. No matter how sophisticated you are, somewhere in our heart there still lurks a secret crush: a star who you'll always wish you could meet-or be. Why are we so obsessed with fame?

Journalist Michael Joseph Gross spent three years infiltrating the carnival of fame that fuels our culture Traveling from Hollywood to Dollywood, from Neverland to Middle Earth, he exposed the exploitation, appreciation, hope and disappointment that bind celebrities and the rest of us.

In Starstuck Gross chases after Mick Jagger with a professional autograph collector; trails Dolly Parton with fans unabashedly in her thrall; and weaves dozens of such adventures with wide-ranging celebrity interviews (Tom Cruise, Shirley Jones, Missy Elliot, Mickey Rourke, Will Smith, and more), offering an unprecedented view of life on both sides of the velvet rope.

Hilarious, insightful, and unexpectedly touching. Starstruck suggests that our secret lives as fans deserve a closer look: not only as a barometer of dreams, but also as driving force of the media industry whose influence on our society grows with each passing year.

MICHAEL JOSEPH GORSS has written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Atlantic Monthly, Entertainment Weekly, Elle, the Nation, and many other publications. He won PEN/New England's 2002 Discover Award for nonfiction. He lives in California. a