4% Famous Deborah Schoeneman
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4% Famous
Deborah Schoeneman
Shaye Areheart Books
Hardcover
288 pages
May 2006
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The debut novel from Deborah Shoenemen is an authentically detailed look at gossip from behind the velvet rope. The insider perspective comes naturally for Shoenemen from her stints as gossip, real estate, and society columnist with newspapers such as the New York Observer and The New York Post, along with writing for New York Magazine. From the opening chapter:
”With her new job as “legs” for a gossip column, Kate Simon often feels as if she’s crawling on all fours. There’s too much to see and do. Stories to devour and spit back up in bite-sized items for the New York Examiner every week. Things to catch up on, things she wishes she already knew as soon as she learns them. It’s hard to sleep when you feel as though the whole city is wide awake and feasting.”
The book’s hook isn’t really the plot (though there is some compelling drama) as much as it is a peek inside the chaotic world of celebrity with Kate Simon and her fellow columnists Tim Mack and Blake Bradley, who have their own problems: Tim has to face the music after getting an actress pregnant, and Blake deals with unresolved issues between him and his father. The behind-the-scenes narrative is extremely engaging and, surprisingly, not filled with the oft-expected happy ending associated with chic-lit. For aspiring gossip writers, this is a must read novel. For everyone else, this is a sinfully delicious guilty pleasure that will have you turning the pages whether you’re at the beach or sitting home comfortably in the air conditioning.
Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. © Bobby Blades, 2006
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