Bonnie Fuller’s point of view is tipping over

The wisdom of Bonnie Fuller moves into the spotlight this week with the publication of The Joys of Much Too Much – a book geared to young women seeking elder approval to pursue an overindulgent existence – as the tables are turned on the formerly local rag mag editrix with a double shot of coverage in The New York Times. A magazine Q&A challenged her philosophy in the face of postfeminist Realpolitik: “Your house doesn’t have to be clean,” she responds. “You don’t have to have clean floors. Your drawers don’t have to perfect, and dishes can pile up in the sink.” Also, she’s decided that periodicals like her old workplace, Glamour, are “too much work” and ultimately make women feel inadequate – as opposed to her current primary gig, Star, which is dedicated to detailing celebrity faults. The NYT Business section peeks between the covers of Bonnie’s book, including her unabashed boast that she was reading proofs of the issues she was editing in the midst of giving birth. More about her upbringing is provided in a New York Sun profile – while admitting that she developed a “bossy” persona at an early age, Fuller also mentions that her lawyer dad would take her to civic hearings on the revitalization of downtown Toronto. Today, in her role as extravagantly compensated editorial director of American Media, she has the luxury of playing one tabloid against the other, lest the editorial integrity of Star be compromised. A tawdry photo of the 19-year-old who accused basketballer Kobe Bryant of sexual assault was handed off to the lower-grade Globe. And when Demi Moore pregnancy rumours turned out false, The National Enquirer came to the rescue with a miscarriage scoop. (Word of Demi’s latest spermination is the big headline of the latest Enquirer, whose sales have been foundering after a recent redesign.) But those tactics couldn’t keep Star from histrionically reporting “Brad & Jen Back On! IT’S BABY TIME” days after their split was confirmed – the “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN” of our gilded age. So, when does it all end? Maybe it already has, calculates snark pioneer Kurt Andersen in the pages of New York, figuring the twilight of Paris Hilton’s career means celeb obsession is ready to fall apart along with the rest of mass culture. Bonnie Fuller may well get a two-decade head start on her aspirations to take up competitive gardening before she turns 70.

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