Dead+Famous+-+Sjur



=The Author= Ben Elton is a British-Australian author, comedian, playwright and director. He debuted in the television-industry in the 80’s as a stand-up performer in the BBC1 youth and music programme //[|The Oxford Road Show]//, but his first success was as a co-writer of the sitcom [|The Young Ones] in 1982. Elton was one of the main contributors of the rise of the alternative comedy movement in the 80’s, but more recently he is most known for his UK Top 5-selling novels like [|High Society] //(2002) and// [|Past Mortem] //(2004).//

=The Novel= The novel “Dead Famous” //(2001)// by Ben Elton is about 10 young and hopeful contestants of a reality show called //House Arrest//. They are constantly filmed by thirty cameras and meanwhile recorded by 40 microphones. In other words: The show is more or less the same as the real-life reality-show //Big Brother//. At least it is until on of the contestants is murdered in front of all the recording equipment – and not a shred of evidence is left behind. It is up to Chief Inspector Stanley Spencer Coleridge and his subordinate police officers to find the murderer and how he or she did it.

The story takes place in the 21st century, around when the book was released in 2001. At that time, reality-shows were a relatively new and “hot” phenomenon, and by the enthusiasm of the viewers you can tell that the interest is huge. Most of the novel is set in the house in which the show takes place, but the officers’ investigation also gets their fair share. The officers spend a lot of time watching recordings of the show as a part of their investigation. Ben Elton isn’t very descriptive of the settings; He is more focused on describing actions, events and dialogues.

"[|Ben Elton]" by Wikipedia. Last edited: 12 May 2010. http://a2.vox.com/6a00e3989fddbd0004011017c02422860e-500pi
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