Review of Adoration and Pilgrimage:

[Famzi Ken]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Adoration and Pilgrimage:" by James F. Hopgood.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Some movies I've watched show how enthusiastic fans can be for a so-called celebrity. I watch some of the crazy things they do for such people out of devotion. While I find this funny to watch, it keeps me wondering why. I wonder why a human will idolize a fellow human. This book, Adoration and Pilgrimage: James Dean and Fairmount, written by James F. Hopgood, gave me an idea of why. The author of this book sought to understand why James Dean was idolized by his fans, both young and old.

James Dean grew up as a normal small-town boy. He had lost his mother at the young age of 9. Then he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle at Fairmount. There, he grew up as a normal high school teenager. But Dean was passionate about acting, which his father did not support. But he pursued his dream and went to New York City. After much hustling, he made a name for himself in the film industry. Dean was said to love the fast life. This included car racing. But one day, while he was driving his car to a car race, something terrible happened. This incident gave rise to decades of devotion, adoration, and even pilgrimage. But why was such special attention given to Dean? Read the book to find out.

This book was interesting to some extent. It was also educational. I have not read or heard about James Dean before now. But he seemed to be a well-known public figure from the 1950s who was still adored until the twenty-first century. This book made me pause and think. As I stated above, I had always wondered why people idolized celebrities. This book gave me some ideas to think about. It was stated that it could happen for reasons like their wealth, status, the character portrayed, etc. Depending on the character portrayed, it could be that the individual propagates an attribute that resonates with the fan. James Dean, for example, was portrayed as a rebel in his movies. This resonated well with his young fans.

There was something I disliked in this book. There seemed to be a repetition of ideas. It was tiring to read the same idea in different locations in the book. It was about the author's research, so I found most parts of it to be too wordy and boring. I think it would have been better if there were some pictures in the book. It would have served as a good reprieve when the ideas in the book seem overwhelming. For example, it would have been nice to see something about Fairmount or any part of it that concerned James Dean.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. I found no errors. It was exceptionally well-edited. Ideas were indeed repeated, but they were done with different illustrations, stories, and words. Pictures would have helped make the reading of the book more enjoyable, but I learned to take a break and continue later whenever I felt overwhelmed. However, I gave it a full rating because of the authenticity of the book. I appreciated the effort of the author in the research and compilation of the book. I recommend this book to those who know about James Dean and to those who would like to know about him.

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Adoration and Pilgrimage:
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[Favour Ugwu Chidinma]

I would like to know about James Dean. I might consider reading the book. Educative review.

[Park Cherri]

James Dean seem like an interesting character and I’ll like to know more about him. People idolize celebrities for different reasons. Nice review!

[Zillionaire_me]

I have heard of James Dean but I know little about him. Since this book said a lot about him,then I shall read the book.
I also want to find out through this book why people idolize others.

[Shedrack A]

The idolisation of another human being is something that has always been a mystery to me. Perhaps I will learn one or two reasons why in this book.

[Chiamaka_Glory]

I wonder why people would want to idolise their fellow human being. I wonder what this book will say about it. James Dean is an interesting character I would love to read about.

[Oluwa Tomisin]

I've not heard about James Dean and I wonder why so much idolisation was done too him, it would be fun to read about fair mount too, thank you for your wonderful review.

[Oluchi23]

The suspense you left on your review hascost me to add the book to my bookshelf ASAP, so as to know why much attention was given to Dean. Thank for the wonderful charge.

[Arrow Shot]

This review highlights some shortcomings of the book, including the repetitive nature of some of the ideas and the lack of visual aids. However, the reviewer notes that despite these issues, the book is well-written and informative, making it a worthwhile read for anyone interested in James Dean and the phenomenon of celebrity worship.