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Summary: Sellevison is REAL!
Review: I work for a home shopping channel, ShopNBC, and I have to say that this book is a dead-on send up of this industry. Everything from the schmaltzy hosts to the ridiculous merchandise is completely true-to-life. I have never laughed so hard! I've read this book 4 times already, and it never fails to delight me.
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Summary: Couldn't be funnier
Review: I was slightly skeptical about this one because I'm not a home shopping fan. But it took about two sentences for me to be completely won over. Sellevision is a sharp, hilarious media satire that never wavers. The plot is lightning fast, the characters are dead on, and the writing is exactly as mean and funny as it needs to be without ever going too far. This is brilliant. So where's the movie?I see from the Amazon author page that Burroughs has a new book called Running With Scissors coming out this summer. I've already pre-ordered mine.
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Summary: A comic masterpiece of office backbiting
Review: Welcome to the world of home shopping. Sellevision, according to the book, has become the nation's largest, best, and brightest home shopping network. However, it's the behind the scene antics which make this book a delight. Max -- the gay, recently fired on-air host who accidentally showed a bit more on-air than he should have and winds up with a most unexpected job. Peggy Jean -- the conservative Christian mother of three (four if you count her husband who has a thing for underage females) who turns into a pill popping, booze swilling hypochondriac after one of her more than zealous viewers starts sending her threatening emails and harrassing her on air. Leigh -- who proves that sleeping with the boss might get your more air time but it won't get you a ring on your finger Bebe -- the star of the network whose search for love may have hit a bit too close to home It's wild, it's wicked, it will leave you begging for more...it's Sellevision.
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Summary: What a Great Satire
Review: I loved this book! It is hysterical and still, weeks later I think of little things from the book (like the TV remote/lotion dispenser) and I giggle insanely. Very clever and a wonderful satire about 3rd rate celebs. A must read.
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Summary: The best satire ever
Review: I bought this book on a hunch and for 200 some pages all I did is laugh. A satire on an industry that was overdue for one. I cannot recommened this book enough.
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Summary: Hysterical!
Review: This book made me want to watch the shopping networks - just for the humor of it all. (And no, I've never watched or bought before.) Everything in the story is described as if it were for sale, including the characters. I couldn't put this book down and ended up finishing it in one afternoon. A very entertaining laugh at the shopping mentality and the people behind it. "Get your order in soon -- this item is sure to sell out quickly!"
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Summary: "My Name is Jean, And I am a Home Shopaholic..."
Review: Well, blow me down. What a perfectly hilarious depiction of a fictitious home shopping network. I laughed...I cried...and for a change, I was busy reading so I didn't buy anything from those tv vultures that masquerade as my best friends. It was quite shocking and a bit more down and dirty that the recipe book you bought last month from channel 33 featuring some old bat's rice krispies cookie recipe, but it was all in fun. Can you be kind hearted and nasty at the same time? All's well that ends well, as Shakespeare said. The author is a teeny bit (aggressive), and we just have to love him for it. I know that he, like me, must be a late night shopaholic. I got hooked feeding one of my kids when he was an infant...what is THIS GUY'S EXCUSE? Anyway, if you love to laugh, and you can handle a bit of bwahhhhaaaaahahaha nastiness...buy this book. It'll be the last thing you buy for the day, I bet. Unless you turn on the tv. best, jean
Rating: 
Summary: Good read but over-hyped
Review: I enjoyed "Sellevision," but thought there was a definite disconnect between the over-the-top blurbs provided by fellow authors for the back cover and the mildly pleasing content of the book. Don't get me wrong - I recommend this book. It's absolutely a great way to pass a two- to three-hour plane ride. Burroughs does a wonderful job describing life at a Home Shopping Network-type organization. His bits spoofing the various products & the pitches that go along with them are witty and very lively. But anyone looking for real character development here is going to be disappointed. A couple of folks get fully formed, others seem to pop in and out of the story with little meat attached along the way. I think of the way De Bernieres described Pelagia and Corelli in "Correlli's Mandolin." That's my perfect 10 for fiction, and by comparison I'd put "Sellevision" on the pleasing side of a 5. But on the whole, a very promising first effort that bodes well for Burroughs' future. I definitely plan on checking out his future efforts as they appear on the scene.
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Summary: Trailer-park chic
Review: Twisted yet real, hysterical yet sad-what a great story! I consumed it in one terrifically enjoyable sitting. The TV sales-hosts are so like the audience they're selling to it's frightening. Trailer-park chic backdrops tell a lot about our own materialistic tendencies. When can I place an advance order for Burroughs' second novel?
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Summary: Five star hype, two star book
Review: No, sorry, I just don't see what all the fuss is about. Interesting concept and a VERY easy read, but there's only one character (Peggy Jean) who's anything like fully formed. Likewise, too many side points are touched upon and left largely unexplored. I'm typing quickly here before I forget what the book was about.
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