Dead Famous: Amazon.ca: Ben Elton: Books

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Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

Chief Inspector Coleridge is called in to investigate a murder that occurs among the cast of "House Arrest," a reality TV show on the BBC. Thorpe reads Elton's funny parody of this medium and its vain, ambitious contestants in an enthusiastic, rapid-fire style. He makes crusty, crotchety Coleridge even more so and characterizes the 10 house members as ridiculous by emphasizing their vapid slang and bad grammar. Thorpe shifts tone deftly to make Jazz, Layla, Hamish, Dervla, Moon, et al. unique and identifiable. Pacing and diction are impeccable. This popular entertainment should appeal to Generation X. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews

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4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Big up to Ben!, May 4 2004

By	Gordon M. Crawford (Richland, Washington United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Famous (Paperback)

Wicked. Fair play to Ben for a really bigged up top book. A whodunnit and a satire on exploitative reality shows in one. In Dead Famous a collection of misfits and wannabees are penned into a Big Brother type house for 10 weeks, but the difference this time is that one of them is actually murdered. Elton manages to keep you guessing for the first half of the book on the identity of the victim and for the second half on the identity of the murderer. Meanwhile the show's producers cynically manipulate "the reality" to make "really good telly", taking comments out of context and splicing dialogue to non-contemporaneous images.

Elton exposes the hip young culture of many modern TV shows for what it is - vapid, while at the same time taking swipes at the politicians and social commentators who try and curry favour by appearing on such shows and feigning empathy with the values espoused. When left wingers do it they look silly, but when right wingers do it they look ridiculous.

At the same time he actually champions the experienced but so-not-with-it Inspector Coleridge who brilliantly unfolds the mystery of the "House Arrest" set, using his love of MacBeth as a guide.

What I like about Elton is that although he may often appear as an anti-establishment figure, he is prepared to support what is good and moral in people like Colerdidge and condemn the loser values of the Reality TV genre.

Only minor grumble about the book's credibility was the fact that the police allowed the show to continue after the murder - they would of course have kept the crime scene isolated for longer. Elton could have used the replica set for the continuation of the game and been more credible.

So in summary a really amusing book, which exposes the reality TV genre (if it really needed exposing) for what it is.

You might not be too happy with your kids (<16) reading this because of the language, appropriate and realistic though it might be.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn' t put it down!, Feb 23 2004

By	Donnald (Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Famous (Hardcover)

I read this at a trip to Portugal. My real intentions for the trip were to see Portugal; instead I sat in my hotel room reading this book. But, then again, the book only took like a couple of hours to read, just impossible to put down.
When I bought this book I didn't expect such a classically-written piece of work! Brilliant. The plot just had to be written; it was an obvious plot to the modern audience. One little snag (!) you'll mostly likely guess who the killer is by the first pages, but it doesn't matter! It's still great!

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5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic who dunnit!, Sep 4 2003

By	T West (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Famous (Paperback)

Welcome to the set of "House Arrest Three." A reality based tv show were you get voted out of the house. But a big surprise happens along the way. Murder.

The book starts off with the investigating detective rolling through the tapes of house arrest. Then piece by piece the story starts falling into place. What Elton gives us is laughter,sexy scenes,violent arguments,and just about everything else you can think of from reality tv. Then the murder.Now like anybody else you can usually figure out who dunnit before the end but with dead famous I kept saying to myself "I know who did it" but I had five suspects in my head. So Elton keeps you on your toes.
The dramatic climax straight out of a classic who dunnit movie or book was when the detective had everyone together (including the millions of people on the telly)and gave the motives and alibi's of all the suspects to the conclusion of the fingering of the murderer. Brilliant!
There is a quote from one of the tabloids from a review of this book that says "A perfect modern day who-dunnit". It dont get no better than this.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A diverting little mystery
Ben Elton takes a page from the Agatha Christie style of murder mystery--bring together a group of potential suspects, let a murder occur and then have an outside try to piece... Read more

Published on July 18 2003 by Michael Hickerson

4.0 out of 5 stars reality TV? something to die for...
Ben Elton is in good form with "Dead Famous". He captures the absurdity of reality TV ("Big Brother") perfectly in this lighthearted murder mystery. Read more

Published on Jun 12 2003 by lazza

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead Famous is Dead Funny
Dead Famous is a hilarious satire of today's pop culture. Ben Elton's novel follows the "escapades" of an old fashioned police officer, Coleridge, and his colleagues,... Read more

Published on May 4 2003 by nienori

4.0 out of 5 stars Reality TV Rules
Ben Elton ridicules the human desire for fame with a comical murder mystery based on a reality television show. Read more

Published on April 30 2003 by leron

4.0 out of 5 stars Reality TV at his best
The novel „Dead Famous" by Ben Elton is about a Big Brother show in Great Britain. It says in the book: 'One house, ten contestants, thirty cameras, forty microphones, one... Read more

Published on April 2 2003 by fabian5000

4.0 out of 5 stars Death in the fast lane
Ben Elton writes as he performs - 100 miles an hour with few stops for breath. Warning - do not start reading this unless you have time to finish it in one sitting. Read more

Published on April 1 2003 by S. Cornforth

4.0 out of 5 stars Dead Famous
A very good book although lacking consistency throughout. Highly recommend.

Published on Feb 25 2003 by jenni harvey

3.0 out of 5 stars Sketch work.
February 11, 2003

This is the second Ben Elton book I've read. The first
was "The Other Eden." He has a quick, lean style that
borders on being anti-literature. Read more

Published on Feb 11 2003 by Type12point

5.0 out of 5 stars another winner
Ben Elton is at his funniest and his sharpest when he is exploring human emotions and everyday situations. Read more

Published on Jan 26 2003 by T. Gardener

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and thrilling
Funny Funny and thrilling book - with great British linguistic pearls! Respect! Wicked book!

Published on Dec 31 2002