Chart Throb

No-one would disagree that Ben Elton is a masterful observer of contemporary society. Once again here, he taps into the frustration with the X factor/Pop idol culture that seems to have dominated our "empty lives" in the last few years.

His observations are shrewd, funny and probably altogether true. You'll certainly never take another episode of these dire programmes seriously!!

The problem is that, once the jokes have been told, there is very little else here and the book drags on and on. The plot is flimsy, unfulfilling and ultimately fairly silly (without being clever) and you warm to none of the characters leaving you caring nothing about what happens to any of them.

Sometimes I think that the Ben Elton book machine latches onto the subject du jour much as a stand up comic plan his latest routine. Unfortunately, the book has to be readable and gripping as well and here, with Chart Throb, Mr Elton fails.

very nice read (0/0 people found this helpful)

This was the first book ,of this author that i ever read. I actualy picked it up from my fathers batch of books ,that he got as presents, and was not interested in them.
Read it, on the plain from Marbella to Belgrade,(and afterwards), and found it very interesting and provocative.
At certain points , the book had the strokes of genius,And of course at some points it felt like a rather, light entertainment read.
But all combined , it turned out as an above average piece of literature, in its genre.
My firm recomendation for anyone who likes modern satire.

Not at his best (0/0 people found this helpful)

I've enjoyed several books by Ben Elton but I have a suspician he wrote this whole book in a weekend. It's probably the easiest book he has written as it seems he just wrote about how he sees X Factor and just changed the names and a few details. Plenty of character assination along the way and the book was complete. It was also quite condescending as the whole book keeps banging on about how none of what you see on X factor is true and it's just down to the editing - forgive me, but to me this isn't thought provoking, it's just obvious. Hopefully Ben will return to his previous form soon.

One Angry Book (0/0 people found this helpful)

If there is anything that deserves to be criticised on TV its `The X Factor', and Ben Elton does this in a Scathing fashion in `Chart Throb'. Calvin is a Simon Cowell homage who is the creator of a TV show that sees the public sing in front of three judges in the hope of realising their dreams. In the book we discover the truth behind these `reality' TV shows as Calvin and company manipulate the edit to make their favourites win. However, with the recent 3rd series Calvin has more than usual at stake. His new wife wants a divorce and to stop her taking half his fortune he must win a bet they have just made. Can Calvin really manipulate the public to vote for anyone he chooses? Even the Prince of Wales?

`Chart Throb' is a book that holds nothing back. It is one of the most scathing books that I have ever read and reveals shows like `The X Factor' to be the scams that they are. Although it is based on a fictional TV show called Chart Throb, the similarities between the characters and the judges on `X Factor' are clear. I have mixed reservations about this book as I enjoyed the attacks that Elton portrayed but I felt this meant that there were no likable characters in the book. By the end it just felt too cynical to me and the light relief was not enough. Added to this is an issue with the pacing, too much time is spent on the initial set up of characters just for their conclusions to be batted away. Overall, I did find this an enjoyable, if angry, book. I would recommend it to anyone who is fed up with the current crop of rubbish TV and are looking to read someone venting their spleen about it.

Fatal (1/1 people found this helpful)

The book is really funny and shows how TV business works. At the beginning there are a lot of charakters and it is sometimes very confusing. But closer to the end the focus lies on the really important persons and you can follow their story. In general it's a really interesting and entertaining book and not reading would be a FATAL sin.
Sincerely Sebastian and Florian

Ben Elton

Reader Reviews:

Ok, but not great. (0/0 people found this helpful)

very nice read (0/0 people found this helpful)

Not at his best (0/0 people found this helpful)

One Angry Book (0/0 people found this helpful)

Fatal (1/1 people found this helpful)

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