Cause Celeb

Rating:
Summary: A fabulous first novel by Helen Fielding
Review: Because *Cause Celeb* was only recently released in the United States, I had already read both of her other books, the Bridget Jones Diary and the sequel to BJD, Bridget Jones Edge of Reason. I was happy with both of the Bridget novels; they were a fresh look at single life in the 90's. But I had no idea of Fielding's depth until reading *Cause Celeb*.

The main character of Celeb is a more mature, somewhat less self-conscious version of Bridget. They have many characteristics in common, in particular, their sense of humor in the face of tragic situations. Rosie works for a publishing house in London, where she is often right in the middle of celebrity gatherings. She hooks up with a famous TV host, Oliver, who turns out to be (in my humble opinion) a schizophrenic abusive boyfriend that increases her desire to get far, far away from London life and the celebrity scene. She finds work in Nambula, Africa, where she runs a refugee camp providing food, water and medical care to villagers thrown out of their homes. In Africa, Rosemary is able to find herself, garner self-esteem and gather the courage to go back to London when a food shortage and health crisis is imminent. Unfortunately, the only way she can help the refugees is to ask for a celebrity benefit from none other than Oliver and his cronies.

*Cause Celeb* is an absolute page-turner and exceeded my every expectation for a first novel by Fielding. She makes it clear that she can write about more than our Bridget, which only increases my anticipation by another Fielding novel!

Rating:
Summary: Not Bridget but Rosie is still riveting!
Review: Fans of Helen Field's Bridget Jones series will be surprised to learn that Cause Celeb was actually published in England prior to the Jones series but they will certainly not be disappointed by the book. While written in the traditional style of a novel (unlike Bridget Jones) - readers will still find a place in their hearts for Cause Celeb's leading lady - Rosie Richardson.

After an unsuccessful relationship with a hotshot newscaster, Oliver, and a life filled with his celebrity friends and enemies, Rosie is sick of her life - sick physically and emotionally and takes a leap of faith to Africa to work in a refugee camp. Rosie realizes that her past life in London might actually help her cause in Nambula and help the refugees get the attention, money and aid that they need - with a little chutzpah and ingenuity Rosie calls on her old friends to help with a TV benefit - along the way she realizes that her heart has mended and her life is more full and rewarding than she could have ever imagined.

Readers will revel in the writing style and situations that Helen Fielding has made famous in her Bridget series but will be delighted to discover a much more grounded and resourceful heroine - one that we could aspire to be. All in all, Cause Celeb is a great read and will keep fans busy while waiting for the next Bridget installment.

Rating:
Summary: Major disappointment, characters weak & undeveloped
Review: Having read Bridget Jones & Fielding's lastest novel I was excited to read Cause Celeb. From the very beginning I was disappointed. The lead character is not really developed & she makes choice that I cannot understand or respect. She ended up driving me nuts, as did almost every character in the book. The dialogue for certain characters, like Nadia & Andre, was very annoying & was hard to read smoothly. There is also very little humor or romance in this book. While you feel for the refugee story the rest of it is pure cr*p and should be avoided.


Rating:
Summary: Not Quite Cause for Celebration ~
Review: Helen Fielding does a great job of recreating the harsh and beautiful backdrop of Africa, while exciting that little place in all of us that once secretly wanted to join the Peace Corps.
I think the one downfall in the story is that Rosie (our tale's heroine), leaves us wanting more substance.
The book starts out great, introducing Rosie as the once-neglected girlfriend of a TV star, who now runs a refugee camp in Nambula, Africa.
You identify with her longing and neediness, and with the strength we all have to summon sooner or later to become whole again.
The problem is that we are kept in-plot just enough to want to finish the story, but not enough to really care about our characters.
There is a "Bridget"-similar love triangle between the new beau who is stable and stoic and the ex-love who is passionate and dreamy, but it isn't gripping or nail biting, just another twist to the story.
The story comes to a head as Rosie jeapordizes her job to recruit various stars from the UK for a televised fundraiser. It very quickly goes from 1st to 5th gear as we watch these stars try to deal with the 3rd-world conditions in Nambula. Fielding does a brilliant job of showing their shallowness, but without empathy and the humor tends to border on silly.
I definitely recommend this book, but don't expect the quirkiness of B.J. This is a wholly different novel.

Rating:
Summary: Kind of boring!
Review: I am a huge fan of the Bridget Jones books. This is clearly not Bridget Jones. It took me awhile to get into the story and a lot of the book felt like it was plodding along. I felt as if I had to force myself to finish certain chapters, which is not a good sign! I never actually finished the book - I left a chapter or two unread. I just couldn't force myself to finish it.

Rating:
Summary: Finally a heroine I can respect
Review: I'm a huge fan of Helen Fielding and really loved the first Bridget book (not so much the second one). But, I have to say I loved Cause Celeb even more. Rosie is a heroine you can really get behind. The camp scenes are suprisingly moving and riveting. I had picked this book about a year ago but never got around to reading it until now. I'm sure glad I finally did.

Rating:
Summary: You've got to be kidding.
Review: It has been a year after reading the BJD books before reading this one, as I thought it might not be as interesting and fun. I must say Cause Celeb has more depth than the other two books, it got me thinking about how the difficult it is for the refugees to just to survive and how these camps might be like. Really enjoyed it cos it has a thinking (or sort of) and an independent heroine, instead of the seemingly forever dependent-on-men Bridget (though I like BJD too). Rosie is more realistic and knows her mind, whereas Bridget just seem too unreal and self-absorbed. There just one thing about cause celeb that I am unsatisfied-------Rosie's new relationship. It was not mentioned much unlike the Darcy-Jones relationship in BJD. Hmm, was just hoping for more.
On the whole, this is a more touching and deeper book.

Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Ms. Fielding!
Review: Make no doubt about it, THIS IS NOT BRIDGET JONES! Set your mind up to believe that and you'll adore this gem of a book as well. Fielding writes with great detail, passion, and humor. The book is divided into two settings, England and Africa. The main character Rosie Richardson is the link between the two. She starts out as an employee for a 'glossy' magazine. She meets many celebrities and has a celeb boyfriend, however finding her life overly stressful and slightly unmeaningful, she decides to leave her life in England behind and go to work in Africa. When a famine and locusts threaten to wipe out thousands of people near her camp, Rosie returns to England in order to strike up support and raise money for the cause. This book will keep you interested and perhaps get you motivated to make a change in your daily routine. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Viva la Cause Celeb!

Rating:
Summary: Bridget Jones gets serious--Kingsolveresque
Review: OK, it's perhaps not quite fair to describe this book in terms of Bridget Jones, since Fielding wrote it several years before Bridget Jones' Diary. But it's probably a safe bet that anybody reading it has already read Bridget Jones or seen the movie... and I would argue that in every respect-- form, elegance, sureness of itself-- Bridget Jones is a better book. The writing is that much more mature.

But, the two books are really in completely different genres. Where Bridget Jones' Diary practically defined a whole new chick-lit, the literary equivalent of Sex and the City (the columns by Candace Bushnell of that name are halfway between journalism and fiction, so I'd say Fielding really broke the ground that would soon be followed by Confessions of a Shopaholic, etc), Cause Celeb is closer to a kind of female coming-of-age Holden Caulfield lite than it is to comedy of manners.

True, many of the chapters do send up the culture of celebrity, and they are well handled. But Rosie Richardson's transformation from Bridget-like young-woman-in-publishing-involved-with-selfish-man to a relief worker is real, and very serious. Not only does she leave for Africa with no regrets, she becomes a very competent head of the program, and stays for four years.

MOST of the book takes place in the fictional country of Nambula, hovering on the edge of a famine and crisis. Fielding's attention to detail is wonderful, and she clearly knows what she writes about. It reminded me a lot of Barbara Kingsolver and her young heroines in Africa in Poisonwood Bible. When we finally get to the plot to have Rosie's old pals come and do a benefit the book becomes more interesting, but never really soars into the broad, hilarious satire it's described as being. This is Evelyn Waugh territory, but sentimental where Waugh is cutting, sad where Waugh would be cynical... so that it hovers uncertainly between Kingsolver-like punch and later-Fielding like panache.

For me, the more interesting chapters were the flashbacks to London, and the horrible people Fielding gleefully lances. And this was most effectively handled before Rosie grew a conscience and suddenly fell out of love with her newscaster boyfriend and with the shallow life. That is where Rosie's character is most vivid, and where Fielding's writing really shines. When she goes back to London to round up the celebrities, the cynical portratis are funny-- but teeter on self-righteoous. It's easier to like Rosie when she doesn't tell us what to think of the celebrities or of herself. There are some great characters in Africa too, but the love interest there is underplayed.

Reading this has me more impressed with Fielding's range than I was, but very grateful she turned to the wonderful comedy she now writes. There, she's a unique, precious talent. Still, worth a read if you're interested in the life of a relief worker and in Africa!

Rating:
Summary: Bridget Jones gets serious--Kingsolveresque
Review: OK, it's perhaps not quite fair to describe this book in terms of Bridget Jones, since Fielding wrote it several years before Bridget Jones' Diary. But it's probably a safe bet that anybody reading it has already read Bridget Jones or seen the movie... and I would argue that in every respect-- form, elegance, sureness of itself-- Bridget Jones is a better book. The writing is that much more mature.

But, the two books are really in completely different genres. Where Bridget Jones' Diary practically defined a whole new chick-lit, the literary equivalent of Sex and the City (the columns by Candace Bushnell of that name are halfway between journalism and fiction, so I'd say Fielding really broke the ground that would soon be followed by Confessions of a Shopaholic, etc), Cause Celeb is closer to a kind of female coming-of-age Holden Caulfield lite than it is to comedy of manners.

True, many of the chapters do send up the culture of celebrity, and they are well handled. But Rosie Richardson's transformation from Bridget-like young-woman-in-publishing-involved-with-selfish-man to a relief worker is real, and very serious. Not only does she leave for Africa with no regrets, she becomes a very competent head of the program, and stays for four years.

MOST of the book takes place in the fictional country of Nambula, hovering on the edge of a famine and crisis. Fielding's attention to detail is wonderful, and she clearly knows what she writes about. It reminded me a lot of Barbara Kingsolver and her young heroines in Africa in Poisonwood Bible. When we finally get to the plot to have Rosie's old pals come and do a benefit the book becomes more interesting, but never really soars into the broad, hilarious satire it's described as being. This is Evelyn Waugh territory, but sentimental where Waugh is cutting, sad where Waugh would be cynical... so that it hovers uncertainly between Kingsolver-like punch and later-Fielding like panache.

For me, the more interesting chapters were the flashbacks to London, and the horrible people Fielding gleefully lances. And this was most effectively handled before Rosie grew a conscience and suddenly fell out of love with her newscaster boyfriend and with the shallow life. That is where Rosie's character is most vivid, and where Fielding's writing really shines. When she goes back to London to round up the celebrities, the cynical portratis are funny-- but teeter on self-righteoous. It's easier to like Rosie when she doesn't tell us what to think of the celebrities or of herself. There are some great characters in Africa too, but the love interest there is underplayed.

Reading this has me more impressed with Fielding's range than I was, but very grateful she turned to the wonderful comedy she now writes. There, she's a unique, precious talent. Still, worth a read if you're interested in the life of a relief worker and in Africa!