The biographies of most stars work on the misconception that a performer's true, private self can be discretely separated from the meaning of their public image. Whether it is a serious study of a major artist or a trashy exposé of a behind-the-scenes scandal, the organisational logic is usually the same: the writer assumes that since a media image is a false representation of an actual person, digging deep into the background and lifestyle of any star can only help to reveal something of what that person is ‘really’ like.