- Paperback: 342 pages
- Publisher: Picador UK (Mar 1 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0330340395
- ISBN-13: 978-0330340397
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 240 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #476,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Helen Fielding's novel Bridget Jones's Diary had a meandering, rather shapeless shape (as diaries will). Both fans and critics of that 1998 smash hit will be surprised to find that the author's first novel, previously unpublished in the United States, is a lot more sophisticated in structure. And Cause Celeb is nearly as fun as Bridget Jones's Diary, which is saying a lot, especially since Fielding's debut is about African famine. The narrator, Rosie Richardson, runs a relief camp in the invented country of Nambula. Henry, the most flippant member of her staff, wears a T-shirt that tersely lists the various motivations for relief workers to come to Africa: "(a) Missionary? (b) Mercenary? (c) Misfit? (d) Broken heart?" As Rosie herself admits, she is "a c/d hybrid and soft in the head to boot."
Flashbacks reveal that in London, Rosie had fallen in love with an erratic, emotionally abusive (but adorable!) newscaster. As she trailed about town in Oliver's wake, she came to know his in-crowd of movie stars, directors, and musicians. Her split with this media magnet is what initially sent her to Africa. Four years into Rosie's exile, however, a plague of locusts descends on the crops of a neighboring country, and refugees begin to flood her camp. She decides there's only one thing to do: go back home and round up her old celeb pals for a benefit TV special.
It should come as no shock that the London sequences are great fun, as is the climactic collision between movie stars and refugees. But the real treat is Fielding's handling of the camp sequences. Rosie and her staff struggle with their petty emotions as they confront the incredible suffering in front of them. Henry watches in disbelief as some starving refugees move their tent to a better location: "Never mind the old malnutrition--you go for the view." A newswoman visits the camp, and, fraught with emotion after first seeing the starving children, she caresses Rosie, whose response is this: "I hope the famine hadn't turned her into a lesbian." Fielding has found a voice that is both compassionate and irreverent, a rare and wonderful combination. --Claire Dederer --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Fielding's first novel, published now in the States only following the success of her second (Bridget Jones's Diary), is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes moving, occasionally scurrilous delight. Rosie Richardson, the administrator of Safila, a refugee camp in the fictional African country of Nambula, needs funds fast. The usual relief agencies are tied up in diplomatic knots, a long-promised supply ship is always 10 days away and it looks as though thousands of refugees are about to come streaming over the border. If they arrive before the food does, hundreds of people will starve to death. Rosie, desperate, does the only thing she can think of: she quits her job, returns to England and organizes a celebrity fund drive. This effort is complicated by the fact that her ex-boyfriend, a manipulative TV presenter named Oliver, is her only access to celebrities. On top of dealing with the self-centered celebs, she must also come to terms with her old attraction to him. This is a tall order, as he is devastatingly handsome and unspeakably selfish. Unsurprisingly, the book turns out to be about growing up; the interest comes when it turns out that Rosie isn't the only one obliged to do so. Crosscutting from past to present, this is a two-for-the-price-of-one story: an amusing satire of the celebrity-obsessed West, and a sharp report on the callousness and inefficiency of relief work in Africa. Swinging from laugh-out-loud funny to heartbreakingly sad, this book will please Fielding's old fans and win new ones. (Feb.) Forecast: Those who doubted Fielding could sustain her momentum may be surprised by her staying power. While this novel won't match the sales of Bridget Jones's Diary, it should do very wellDit has sold more than 500,000 copies in the U.K. and EuropeDwith sales boosted by the February release of the paperback edition of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and, in April, the release of the film version of Bridget Jones's Diary.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a pleasant surprise!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cause Celeb. (Hardcover)
I loved Bridget Jones and Edge of Reason, but this is my favorite of the three. This book is a fascinating study of how anyone, even those assumed to be shallow, can give up their comfort for a life of service. I never expected this from Fielding.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Meandering and slow,
By A Customer
This review is from: Cause Celeb. (Hardcover)
I really enjoyed the fast pace and wit of the BJD books. Cause Celeb has none of the charm or pace of her later novels. I nearly put it down many times, and after finishing it, I really wish I hadn't wasted my time.
1.0 out of 5 stars
disappointed,
By meghan (rochester, ny United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cause Celeb (Paperback)
i was psyched to find this book cause i loved bridget jones diary so much and im a huge fan of "brit-girl" books. this one started out horribly. i had to read in about 5 chapters to get past that "oh my god i cant keep reading" feeling. the middle of the book was great. i saw alot of myself in rosie in terms of her messed up relationship with oliver. then when orourke was introduced, i was like YES something will happen! then the end of it DRAGGED on and on and on. i was excited when i thought that oliver and orourke would butt heads, but aside from that one scene, nothing. and then she was watching him sleep at the end? no. i will not read the sequel.
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