Film Stardom, Myth and Classicism: The Rise of Hollywood's Gods

'Williams' book is exemplary in its pursuit of illuminating parallels between the contemporary gods/goddesses and their classical antecedents. The particular period - post-WW1 - with its emphasis on heroes and broken men, on loss and celebration, on the marble memorialising of real-life heroes as compared with the potency of the star images caught in a complex mode of evanescence and permanence, is imbued with both poignancy for what is lost and the exhilaration of what the 'divinisation' (author's word) of the star phenomenon represents.' - Brian McFarlane, Monash University, Australia