Mr. Ellis praises Mr. Sheen for his "post-Empire" stardom, a state of being that is both extremely ironic and self-effacing and "more raw, less diluted." According to the author of American Psycho, Mr. Sheen is simultaneously rejecting stardom entirely and embracing it as a means of spreading a message--the point would be fairly straightforward if Mr. Ellis ever defined what, precisely, "Empire" is.

The term "Empire," often preceded by "Post-" is used 28 times in Ellis's nearly 1800-word piece, an average of just over twice a paragraph. The term is never defined, save for constant comparisons to other things that are, or were, vaguely zeitgeist-y: Tiger Woods is "super-Empire," as is Aaron Sorkin's script for The Social Network. The Kardashian sisters, the cast of Jersey Shore, and Mr. Sheen are all "Post-Empire." So it's something having to do with reverence, or irreverence? Where does giving a famous author money to fulminate about an already-peaked entertainment news story while trying to make a new buzzword happen fall on that continuum? We're guessing "Empire," though Mr. Ellis's promise that a "hard COMPLETE version" will be available Wednesday (presumably on Mr. Ellis's own web presence, as Newsweek has already been printed and shipped) may be Post-a-lot-of-things.

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_