Why does the dialogue in Glamorama include so many lists of celebrities names?
The names function as currency that the characters throw back and forth. Because they have a relationship with one of these names, it enhances their reputation or gives them an entrée they wouldn’t otherwise have had. In a way, I wish I’d just made up all the names. I’m hoping that if the book is around and all these people are forgotten and we’re all dead then the names will function as just that — just clumps of names. Everybody in this book, straight and gay, speaks a kind of gay dialect. Why? There are a couple of gay reporters who have taken the book to task on this as well. Maybe there’s something at work that I’m not conscious of. But this is not a piece of reportage; this book is not necessarily an accurate portrayal of the fashion world. Neither is it necessarily inaccurate. It’s a novel, it’s fiction. And the metaphor I make of fashion and terrorism is already so outlandish, I thought, Why not just do what is playful and fun and have a good time writing? There is little expr
