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Chart Throb
 
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Chart Throb (Paperback)

by Ben Elton (Author)
2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
Price: £5.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Chart Throb + Blind Faith + Past Mortem
Price For All Three: £16.97

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Product details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Black Swan; New edition edition (4 Jun 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 055277376X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0552773768
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 30,841 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #10 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > E > Elton, Ben

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Product Description

Review
" An absolute coup of black comedy."
- "Daily Telegraph" on Popcorn.

"From the Trade Paperback edition."

Product Description
Chart Throb is the ultimate pop quest. There are ninety five thousand hopefuls, three judges, just one winner. And that's Calvin Simms, the genius behind the show. Calvin always wins because Calvin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits smugly in judgement upon the mingers, clingers and blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted 'search' for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The 'real' is about to be put back into 'reality' television and Calvin and his fellow judges (the nation's favourite mum and the other bloke) are about to become ex-factors themselves. Ben Elton, author of "Popcorn" and "Dead Famous" returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows. Chart Throb has one winner and a whole bunch of losers.

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Chart Throb
80% buy the item featured on this page:
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Customer Reviews

71 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (18)
3 star:
 (17)
2 star:
 (12)
1 star:
 (17)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (71 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Cutting and Very Clever, 24 April 2009
Chart Throb is a savage commentary on the contrived world of talent shows like the X-Factor with a wonderful satirical view of the overblown egos of the Judges. At times the observations and pathos of the contestants, and how they are manipulated, make you cringe as much as the real thing. Having a famous member of the Royal Family as a contestant did seem to be a surreal step too far, until I saw Simon Cowell talking about his efforts to involve President Obama in American Idol!!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Scathing, 10 Jun 2007
By Mr. S. J. Downing "Stevie D" (Devon, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Chart Throb (Hardcover)
Chart Throb is Ben Elton in full satire mode. This time, the likes of reality TV shows like Pop Idol, The X Factor and The Osbournes deservedly come under fire. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne are the stars of the show, although they're given new names and Mrs. Osbourne has been made a transsexual for the benefits of the story. It's stated unambiguously - and rather clumsily - early in the story that the book's characters have nothing to do with their real life counterparts, but Mr. Elton is fooling nobody. Calvin 'Cowell' Simms is a cynical media genius, Rodney 'Walsh' Root is a desperately status-sensitive failure, and Beryl 'Osbourne' Blenheim is an equally cynical fraud who plays the nuturing mother only when the cameras are rolling on her and/or her family.

It's hard to say where Chart Throb exposes the truth about exploitative shows like The X Factor and where the book's eponymous TV program is a far more exaggerated, cruelly cynical form of the shows it righteously pardoies. Mr. Elton is more privy to life behind the cameras than you or I; a short note at the end of the book letting us know from where he drew his inspirations might have made even more interesting reading.

As some of the other reviewers have pointed Mr. Elton does overplay certain jokes in Chart Throb. The vacuous, "keep dreaming the dream, babes" reality TV soundbites are funny the first few times they are repeated to show them in their full, trite witlessness. However, these same catchphrases are used whenever a camera is turned onto any one of the Chart Throb culprits/victims, which is to say almost constantly. The satire becomes as overused as the subject matter.

In spite of this book's flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ben Elton's observations of human nature at its most vulnerable, venal, exploitative, ambitious, desperate and vengeful are never so good as when they're in print and it's this hallmark that gives Chart Throb its strength. I kept my eye out for Mr. Elton's other trademark - the (often multiple) twist at the end of the tale. However, even forwarned, I wouldn't have seen the book's conclusion coming in a month of Sundays. Although in my defence, it was a little far-fetched.

So, buy the book? Go on, you might as well. At the time of writing, my local newsagents is running a two-for-one on paperback bestsellers, so I got this for a relative bargain. I'd say I'd got more than my money's worth.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny, 8 Jun 2007
By CG (Liverpool, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chart Throb (Hardcover)
I can't understand the negtive comments that some people have left. This book is hilarious and thought provoking. I couldn't wait to get back to it each time I had to stop reading because of work etc. Read it and you will never watch X Factor or similar programmes without thinking of it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars awful.
I was extremely disappointed with Chart Throb. The first book of Ben Eltons i'd read was Inconceivable (a great read) and then read pastmortem. Read more
Published 3 months ago by D.M.P

4.0 out of 5 stars A great romp if you like watching Sharon, Simon and Louis at work...
Think X Factor pushed to the max in terms of absurdness, and you have 'Chart Throb' in a nutshell. Ben Elton does not remotely try to hide the similarities between his fictional... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Brian Levine

5.0 out of 5 stars Chart Throb, its fab!!
You will never look at reality tv in the same light after reading this. It is brilliant. It starts a bit slow, but is compelling, and funny! It makes you think..... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mrs. D. E. Manoff

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
Chart Throb is a must read for any fan of X-Factor, Pop Idol, etc. Elton's story follows the next evolutionary step, where the talent search genre is full of exploitation,... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. G. Battle

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Elton page turner
This book has got quite mixed reviews from people here at Amazon and I can understand why. I find Mr Eltons work very easy to read and I tend to work my way through one of his... Read more
Published 17 months ago by A. Jackson

2.0 out of 5 stars Ok, but not great.
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... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Dr. J. D. Mitchell

4.0 out of 5 stars very nice read
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 more
Published 18 months ago by ckji.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not at his best
I've enjoyed several books by Ben Elton but I have a suspician he wrote this whole book in a weekend. Read more
Published 18 months ago by RDS

3.0 out of 5 stars One Angry Book
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'. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Sam

4.0 out of 5 stars Fatal
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. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mark Twain

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