Neverland (The Pleasures and Perils of Fandom)

The debut work of non-fiction by award-winning slam poet Vanessa Kisuule, this is a love letter to the musicians we adore and an unflinching look at the costs of hero worship

Why do famous musicians mean so much to us? How does the pop culture industry both mirror and magnify the worst aspects of human nature? Why is it so hard to accept that the people we love, famous or not, can be capable of doing terrible things?

As conversations about abuse perpetrated by public figures become louder and from her very personal perspective as a Michael Jackson obsessive, Kisuule examines the nuances of 'fandom': of celebrities as symbols and fantasies, of child stars and power imbalances. Neverland invites us to question the dangers of idolising and villainising individuals and asks us to be unafraid of scrutinising the ugly and contradictory aspects of these issues. It also holds space for the joy we all get from music and explores ways we can preserve this.

With verve and incisiveness, Kisuule explores her own experience of being a mega fan and the evergreen question of whether we can, or should, separate the art from the artist. With references to R Kelly, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and other famous figures, this is both a love letter to the musicians we adore and an unflinching look at the costs of hero worship.