Famous After Death

by Benjamin Cheever

A brilliant and wickedly comic novel about fame and its discontents, now available in paperback with a provocative essay by the author.

Noel Hammersmith has two dreams: to bring his weight down to a slim 138 pounds and to be famous. Despite being a diet book editor and exercising regularly, he can't lose a pound, and his hilarious timidity insures that he has a hard time getting attention at all, let alone fame.

To express his growing frustration, Noel begins to write angry letters-to Brooks Brothers when they discontinue his favorite shirt, and to Golden Rule Vitamins, who makes fake promises of easy weight loss. Coincidentally, bombs start exploding after each of his letters, the most notorious leaving a seven-year-old chess prodigy dead. When one of Noel's authors, "Che Guevera," claims to know where the mysterious bomber will strike next, Noel's world gets turned upside down...until a series of riotous and unexpected twists helps Noel attain his dreams, but at a strange price.

Expertly skewering the cult of celebrity, this darkly comic satire is even more true-to-life than we might like.

Genres: Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at random from the library. I really enjoyed the wry tone, making the narrator's obviously disastrous relationships (to everyone but him, apparently) seem entertaining instead of unbearably depressing. It was eerie reading this right after the Aurora shootings, since a big theme of the book is disgust for media attention to mass murderers.

[Conan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent out-of-sequence/reverse order novel that keeps teasing you with how crazy the protag might be.

[Joe Faust · Rating 1 out of 5]

A dark comedy that is neither.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick read, different, but I don't think I'd recommend it.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for a long time, and while I’m glad I finally took the time to read it I’m not a fan. We have our main character trying to lose weight and writes complaints about ordinary things. There is a lot of bombings throughout the book, and I honestly thought there was an out of body experience going on, but it has an even stranger ending.

[Kim Freitas · Rating 4 out of 5]

very captivating. couldn't quite figure it out til the end.

[Jorrit Dorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is raved on the backside as being funny and well written. The writing isnt bad but in most parts it is less funny, and more sad. At moments this book really spoke to me, but that more because of the broad subject of not being entirely happy with your life. The plottwist seems to be clear in scope about 15 miles before the end of the book, but you'll be surprised that it isn't exactly what you think it is. All in all it was not a bad read, but I was glad to finish it.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the sarcastic, self-deprecating style of the book, and I enjoyed the use of journals and diary entries to change up the narrative and get into the mind of the main character. Overall, the plot was ok, but the story clearly wasn't the main interest of the author. Overall, it was funny, different, and interesting.

[James D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could easily be a true story in these days of our media driven society. If you grew up in the eighties, then you will easily identify.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. Kept me thinking.