Amazon.co.uk Review
Ben Elton's Dead Famous brings together his talents in comedy and crime writing to produce a hilarious and devastating novel on the gruesome world of reality TV. Peeping Tom productions invent the perfect TV programme: House Arrest. Its slogan is: "One house. Ten contestants. Thirty cameras. Forty microphones. One survivor." This is all a clever parody of the massive TV hit Big Brother, with its vain, ambitious contestants with their:

tattoos and their nipple rings, their mutual interest in star signs, their endless hugging and touching, and above all their complete lack of genuine intellectual curiosity about one single thing on this planet that was not directly connected with themselves.
However, Elton adds a clever twist to this very funny send-up. On Day 27 of the programme, one of the housemates is killed live on TV. Everyone in the country has a theory about the killer, "indeed the only person who seemed to have absolutely no idea whatsoever of the killer's identity was Inspector Stanley Spencer Coleridge, the police officer in charge of the investigation". Coleridge is an old fogey from the 1950s, who has to learn quickly about lesbians, piercings, blow jobs and the seductions of TV fame before he can crack the case. Elton's wicked parody of the housemates is brilliant, the murder fiendish in its ingenuity, and the ending wonderfully over the top. Dead Famous is great fun, and even has some social comment thrown in for good measure. --Jerry Brotton

a good book to read with one eye on the page & the other watching Big Brother on TV!!
not a great read, but entertaining in places, with something to say about the quest for fame.

sent to lastedition as part of calendar RABCK

Such a lovely surprise ... and a book off my wish list too .. thank you very much, cally:-)

A sleepness night and an involuntary day off waiting for a plumber that never showed gave me the opportunity of reading this book almost in one "go". I have only ever watched a week or so of one Big Brother "year" .. still I had no trouble following the plot and it never fails to amaze me what people are willing to do for 5 mins of fame ....
Not the greatest literature around but an entertaining read none the less.

Picked up from the table of temptation

A good read from a strange mind. probably someone who is 'into' reality TV would get more from it, but it is not essential.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

At the meet up

Picked up at the Durham meet. Will be going on TBR pile.

Picked up at the Durham meet. Will be going on TBR pile.

Quite a good twist on a standard murder mystery, as it's set in a Big Brother style house. I think Ben Elton is a great author, so would recommend this. It's quite a light read, but enjoyable too.

Will be releasing this at Durham OBCZ today.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

At the Durham meet this afternoon

Selected from the Meet up & have stated reading
it on the Journey Home