Rating: 
Summary: Sketch work.
Review: February 11, 2003This 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. His only intent seems
to be comic effect (along with some dead easy social
target practice). It's a forgivable style, then, if you
laugh. I found 'Dead Famous' mostly amusing (four outright
chuckles, if you absolutely need a count, along with
several twitches of the lips). The subject matter
renders some of the comedy obvious and some of it
downright redundant. Still, as an afternoon's read,
it's worth a used bookstore price.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny and thrilling
Review: Funny Funny and thrilling book - with great British linguistic pearls! Respect! Wicked book!
Rating: 
Summary: Ten little snugglers or the housetrap
Review: Get ready for a satire of the "Big Brother" kind of programs that's also a modern version of the classical mystery story : a small group of people enclosed in a limited space,one of them a killer:Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" or " Murder in the sky" spring to mind. The satire and the mystery intertwine in a delicious manner,so that the clues to the reader (there are some) are almost undetectable. The charachters are plausible, the interplay sometimes wildly funny. I've loved it, especially the trick of adding a further touch of uncertainty, by letting you guess who the victim shall be. The end is pure Nero Wolfe and Hercule Poirot: the suspects re-united,and the detective who having summarised the case, absolves the innocents and culminate pointing the index finger to the culprit. All in the modern showbiz multimedial setting. That's also a social satire from a conservative point of view, and some point Ben Elton makes are worth consideration. What can I say more? Dead Famous has to be read to be believed.
Rating:
Summary: Clever, funny, and well-written
Review: I don't think that I have ever read a book that successfully combines elements of mystery, comedy, and social satire. Dead Famous exceeds on several levels and it was a wonderful, wonderful surprise. I can't remember ever laughing so hard during a good read. The humor may be classified as "British Humor", but it was like a breath of fresh air compared to the stale, tired themes coming out of the US these days. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Great writing from Ben Elton
Review: I don't usually read many books but was interested to see how Ben Elton could create a good story from something so commonplace in the world today. The result, bloody great reading, even if you think how it might evolve, there's always a few twists & turns in the plot to keep you hooked. Nobody writes like Ben Elton & that's what makes him brilliant. He's just fantasic! Is that right Ted? Yes Dougal, it's the truth!!
Rating:
Summary: Couldn' t put it down!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I read this book in two days, I just couldn't put it down. Like reading a Big Brother expose, a murder mystery and a comedy all in one. Fast paced and funny all the way through. Good work Ben!
Rating:
Summary: Ben Elton does it again
Review: I've just purchased this book, am not even halfway through it yet find it very hard to put down. You get so far then think you carry on with another chapter next time, but it's so compelling it makes you want to read it just a bit further. I've never read a Ben Elton book end to end but this one is marvelous. A master stroke from a briliant author. Long live Ben Elton!!
Rating:
Summary: If you like Big Brother........
Review: If you watch any of the reality TV shows, you'll like this book. I'm not one for watching Big Brother, but I read this book faster than any other I have ever read. The book is set in the UK on the set of "House Arrest", and makes fun of the reality TV phenomenon. There's a murder mystery in there too to keep you guessing. It kept me interested, and laughing throughout.
Rating:
Summary: Reality TV at his best
Review: 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 murder...and no evidence' - this is the plot. The show invents an artificial world in a reality TV show. The truth often is bent and Ben Elton narrates this very thrilling and obscure. I enjoyed reading "Dead Famous", because it is a nice book written in colloquial English. Reality TV is a current phenomenon and in this book the plot is genuine.
So everyone interested in today's TV confusion should read this honest novel by Ben Elton!
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