4% Famous

by Deborah Schoeneman

Which loose-lipped gal about town has been caught canoodling with a randy restaurateur? Sources say the new “legs” of the Examiner ’s gossip column has been helping him bury his long-simmering scandal even though it’s been eating away at her conscience.

Which grizzly tabloid guy better watch his way with the ladies? We hear he got more than a hangover from a boozy night out with a mattress (model/actress) that may cost him his burgeoning relationship with a precocious Park Avenue princess.

Which Wall Street mogul is about to be busted for fuzzy math on his taxes? Luckily, his ink-stained son is digging up a diversion to take down a blowhard billionaire instead.

In the novel 4% Famous , Kate Simon, Tim Mack, and Blake Bradley negotiate the ruthless underworld of Manhattan while working for the city’s top gossip columns.

Friends, lovers, and frenemies may come and go as quickly as the fame quotient of the celebrities they cover, but the young columnists must figure out for themselves what—and who—is worth protecting as they try to avoid becoming fodder for Manhattan’s boldfaced games.

Sexy, exciting, and addictively readable, 4% Famous is an intimate fictional tale of a bizarre industry full of characters and secrets that are as seductive and dark as New York City itself.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Chick Lit

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jennifer Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Deborah Schoeneman's 4% Famous chronicles the lives of 3 New York city gossip columnists as they navigate the social ladders of New York society. The glamourous world isn't always what it seems and as the columnists learn it's easy to get caught up in the viciousness of it all. Trading gossip for favors, they seem to enjoy the best sides of both worlds, A-list, VIP treatment without the famous face that is hounded by fans. They classify themselves 4% famous, famous enough to be somebodies, but not famous enough that your life belongs to the world as public property. As the gossip columnists continue in their success they each discover they are longing for something more in their lives.

Did I like this book? Not really. I have really bland feelings towards it. It wasn't able to draw me in and captivate me. It wasn't able to interest me in it's characters and I found I was making myself read this book, just to finish it. Was it god awful? No, not really, just really unnecessary in the grand scheme of things. Also, the book was light on scandal, apparently it is thinly based on actual "society scandals" in NYC, but since I don't pay that much attention to the NYC society pages, I wasn't able to tell you who they were talking about. I'm giving this book a rather "meh" 3/10- if you want good gossip, stick to Lainey.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an intimate fictional tale of the bizarre gossip industry full of characters and secrets as seductive and dark as New York City itself.

[Dana · Rating 1 out of 5]

So boring and predictable, that I couldn't even push myself to absolve reading the minimum 10% of the total number of pages (in this case, 26) that I would normally commit myself to read before deciding to discard a book.
Goes to back to the charity shop from where I picked it up on a whim.

[Therese Bergwall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Läst på svenska: Känd till 4%

[B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kind of fun book about gossip columnists and the famous and nearly famous in New York. It was interesting for all the glitz and glamor and desperation, but also exhausted me. All these young people running around with high pressure jobs staying out all night at clubs and snorting coke. Exhausting. It was ok, but got kind of repetitive, and I never related to the main character like I think I was supposed to.

[Emma Kaufmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating subject, about how utterly superficial the life of a gossip reporter is, no surprises, just a certain amazement that the protaganists can spend every night snorting coke and sleeping with mattresses (model/actress hybrid) and not have a constantly bleeding nose. A sordid, sexy, compelling read.

[ury949 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty fast to read and fun. Predictable. I was kind of put of by the tense it was written in, but I got used to it. It feels like a chick flick except the end isn't as glamorous as you might hope.

[Ivannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather slow read... entertaining enough to want to finish.

[Vaiva Zaleckyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best book, but not a bad one :)

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story tells most of the time rather than shows, but it was sparkly and seedy enough to keep me interested. Another nice summer read.

[Tricia Abel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only got about 1/3 of the way through this book and just had no desire to keep going. Bo-ring.