by Ben Elton
A satirical whodunnit based on
reality T.V. shows such as big Brother
Reviewed by: Alan McClymont
About Alan McClymont
Ben Elton returns at the top of his game with his most
recent novel Dead Famous. In his usual satirical
style he describes one of the darling formats of
modern day T.V., the reality show. If ever you have a
pet hate you should pick up a book by Elton dealing
with the subject. You will find that he tears it to
pieces with surprising skill and finesse - but it
still remains torn apart. If you are a fan of reality
T.V. however, don't worry there is still plenty here
for you to laugh (and occasionally wince) at.
Using the structure of Big Brother as a guideline
Elton manages to create a murder mystery thriller with
plenty of humor. The basic idea is simple enough. 12
people volunteer to spend some time shut up in a house
together whilst being filmed around the clock by a
T.V. crew. Every week viewers vote out one of the
contestants and at the end the remaining participant
wins a large cash prize and, invariably, instant media
status.
Unlike the traditional format, however, as things are
looking a bit slow and boring Elton throws in a murder
and all hell breaks loose. The remaining contestants
agree to continue with the game knowing that the
murderer must still be in the house with them. At the
same time a cynical out of touch detective is given
the case and proceeds to bounce from dead end to dead
end. The contestants are desperately trying to find
out who did it but at the same time are still trying
to win the contest. It gives the writer a good chance
at having a go at their stupidity and vanity and he
doesn't miss out.
In taking the traditional murder mystery novel into
the technical age Elton manages to refresh the genre
and bring in some new and unexpected twist. I never
felt that I knew who did it until it was over and I
had to keep turning the pages to find out at as
quickly as I could. Even without the wonderful humor
and great cynical observations which are made this
book would still be worth the read. With them,
however, it would be sacrilegious not to read it.
Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Dead Famous
Copyright © by Alan Mcclymont, 2003
Reviewed by Alan McClymont :
-- Dead Famous - by Ben Elton
-- Neither here nor there - by Bill Bryson
-- Lucky Jim - by Kingsley Amis
-- Round Ireland with a fridge - by Tony Hawks
-- The River at the Center of the World
- by Simon Winchester
-- The Rape of Nanking - by Iris Chang
-- Timeline - by Michael Crichton
-- How to Be Good - by Nick Hornby
-- Notes from a Small Island - by Bill Bryson
-- Player Piano - by Kurt Vonnegut
-- Wilt - by Tom Sharpe
-- Number9dream - by David Mitchell
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