Citizen Kim

An unprecedented and intimate account of one of the most business-savvy, influential and defining public icons of our time Kim Kardashian is a self-made mogul, social media genius, fashion icon and unlikely advocate for criminal justice reform. But she is also dismissed as a figure of scandal, spectacle and reality television. The truth is more complicated - and revealing. Stylish, incisive and deeply reported, Citizen Kim is a portrait of a woman we think we know. Born into an Armenian American family in Beverly Hills and marked early by proximity to tragedy and notoriety, Kim's sense of ambition was evident from the start. She rose from Paris Hilton's assistant and shopgirl extraordinaire to tabloid fixation, reality-television star, and ultimately the luminary of a new celebrity economy - an ascent that reveals how precisely she understood the culture she would come to create in her image. Drawing on interviews with dozens of Kim's closest friends, family members and associates, the book shows how the Kardashians and American culture have been in conversation for decades - feeding, shaping and amplifying each other. Equal parts cultural history, high-fashion chronicle and intimate family study, Citizen Kim is a dazzling, whip-smart exploration of one of the most influential - and misunderstood - figures of our time, and the world that made her superstardom possible.

Jonathan Van Meter is one of America's foremost magazine writers. A contributing editor at both Vogue and New York magazine, Van Meter writes about Hollywood, media, fashion, society, and politics, and has profiled many of the most consequential figures in American public life. He is also creator and founding editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine, owned in partnership by Quincy Jones and Time Warner, from 1992-1994, executive producer of the documentary Let's Get Frank, and author of The Last Good Time.