Dead Famous - Ben Elton

A-ha. And so we come Ben Elton. Yes, that’s right the man who brought us all the wonder of that great British flop ‘Maybe Baby’. Yes, that’s right, the knob gag man. Loony Lefty Ben. Is this what you’re thinking? Well, you’d be excused. Unfortunately, Mr Elton hasn’t been the most consistent director/ producer/ playwright/ performer of his generation and occasionally he has the odd turkey. I would include in this most of his stage plays, bar perhaps his play about the British press ‘Silly Cow’ which, although is slightly dated, is actually quite a well crafted play. I’ve been an avid reader of his ...

I really disliked this book...but yet I found myself devouring each and every page. There is something so strangely compulsive about it that I just had to keep reading, and at such a rapid pace that I got from cover to cover in just over a day! A friend had recommended and lent the book to me but after discovering the subject matter I was originally very reluctant to even bother with it. I was keen to sample my first Ben Elton novel though and this was the factor that persuaded me to persevere and turn the first page. So, why was I put off by the content? Two very simple words....Reality TV. Or Big Brother to be even more precise. I’m not ...

It would be an understatement to say that this is a send up of Big Brother and the rest of the reality TV phenomena. The one big difference between this book and the real thing though is the fact that this is compulsive reading whilst I would hardly describe Big Brother as compulsive viewing. Ever since I saw Ben Elton perform live in Birmingham during my student days I have been a bit of a fan even if some of has recent material has seemed a bit jaded there can be little argument that he is not a talented comedy writer with a string of credits both in the world of TV, theatre and fiction writing. The Plot The clever part of this book is ...