"Participants were asked to confirm or deny statements such as “I frequently feel driven to learn about my favorite celebrity’s personal habits” and “I am captivated by the specifics of my favorite celebrity’s life.” "

"Another yes/no statement stated, “If I met my favorite celebrity and he/she asked me to do something illegal as a favor, I would probably do it.”"

This very much applies to contemporary, famous writers/ artists. I have in mind a particular contemporary writer from my country. I think he's a great writer and he is very much famous here (started gaining notoriety abroad too). The discussions around him divide people into two groups: those who actually read his books, are interested in discussing/ analysing them, are looking up interviews and articles that further delve into his work etc. And those probably haven't read more than 2 pages of his work, but can tell you everything from the restaurant he was seen at last weekend to where he vacationed this Christmas, to which celebrities' kids his kids are friends with.

Same goes for actors, for example. There are those who are actually interested in their films and their performances and then, there are those who are interested in who they broke up with or what clothes they wore at some event.

I have a strong suspicion people in this thread would fall in the first category, in regards to Dostoievski, rather than the 'celebrity worshipping' one, which the article refers to, as much of a celebrity Dostoievski would be if he lived today.

As an aside, as much as writer and work can't be separated, i still think we need to remember to differentiate between the writer and the man. As much as i love Dostoievski for his literary genius and as much as his books helped shape who i am today. I am currently reading his 'A writer's diary' and let me tell you i found quite a few things i disagree about with him and i dislike about him as a person.