Make Me Famous - by Maud Ventura (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

AN INDIE NEXT PICK

"The exact thing we need right now: a fierce, fearless, and funny novel about celebrity and our almost pathological obsession with it." --Boston Globe

Daisy Jones and the Six meets Patricia Highsmith in this addictive, intense novel about the brutal and ferocious road to glory, from the award-winning author of My Husband.

Ever since she was a child, Cléo, the French-American daughter of two academics, has had only one obsession: becoming a famous singer. Over the years, to everyone's surprise but her own, she overcomes every obstacle and becomes a global superstar with millions of dollars, countless awards, and several Los Angeles villas to her name. But as any celebrity will tell you, getting to the top is one thing; staying there is another.

Now thirty-three years old, Cléo is taking her first real vacation in years, on a remote island with no one else in sight. With the never-ending spin cycle of her life finally on pause and no paparazzi peeking out from behind the coconut palms, she can work on her fourth album in peace. Except that with so much time to think, she can't help but ruminate on her past--including how, just six months earlier, things started to go very, very wrong . . .

Taking place between New York, Paris, Los Angeles, and the South Pacific, Make Me Famous is a brilliant sophomore novel from Maud Ventura that dives intoxicatingly deep into the machinations of one woman's complicated mind, and her relentless pursuit of fame.

Review Quotes

"Totally absorbing. I read this in one sitting." -- Angourie Rice

"Ventura's sharp knowing satire of celebrity culture is hit material." -- People

"Smashing ... Cleo's voice is bracing and undeniable, and Ventura pulls it all together with a shocking and deeply satisfying ending. This is unforgettable." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Make Me Famous is brutal and thought-provoking, a rare page-turner that also invites the reader to consider deeper meanings of public images and private personas." -- Booklist (starred review)

"The exact thing we need right now: a fierce, fearless, and funny novel about celebrity and our almost pathological obsession with it. A literary rock star in France, Ventura's second novel should win her a horde of fans here." -- Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe

"Maud Ventura has given us an exhilarating and fanciful study of celebrity while questioning the fundamental failings of our time." -- Vanity Fair

"What will keep people reading is the calculated, purposeful, near-obsessive dedication with which Clèo pursues her titular goal. The final twist is a thoroughly satisfying payoff for everything that has come before." -- Bookreporter.com

"Gripping." -- CrimeReads

"Fierce and funny ... exploding the boundaries between private life and marketing." -- Madame Figaro

"A masterpiece of cruelty. A thrilling read of our contemporary neuroses." -- Psychologies Magazine

"A conclusion that's as unexpected as it is breathtaking ... relentless and exhilarating." -- Version Femina

"Flits with just the right amount of lightness, but also cynicism and even cruelty ... funny and biting." -- La Croix