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The Afterparty [Paperback]

Leo Benedictus (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Book Description

Publication Date: 2 Feb 2012

Literary agent Valerie Morrell receives an email from prospective author William Mendez, containing the first chapters of a promising new novel. Mendez's book tells the story of an April night, when a nervous, nerdy journalist takes his boss's invitation to an A-list party and meets a reclusive film star, his junkie supermodel wife and a wide-eyed pop singer.

Valerie is hooked by the scandalous tale of decadence, drugs and disasters, but as the book unfolds, chapter by chapter, email by email, building to a terrible climax, a parallel story emerges - of an author with an unusual, almost unreal, desire for anonymity. Who is William Mendez? And whose tale is he really telling...

WITH PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN MATERIAL FOR THE PAPERBACK

LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE

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The Afterparty + A Visit From the Goon Squad
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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (2 Feb 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099552566
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099552567
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.5 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 529,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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› Visit Amazon's Leo Benedictus Page
Leo Benedictus
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Product Description

Review

"This is the well-written, intelligent satire on celebrity we've been waiting for" (Ben East Metro )

"Brilliant" (Guardian )

"Sardonic, sparkling, scathing" (Independent on Sunday )

"A topsy-turvy tour de force" (Olivia Laing New Statesman )

"The Afterparty is a blast: a pacy and amusing satire of celebrity shenanigans, wrapped in glittery postmodern sweetie-wrappers" (Sam Leith Observer )

Book Description

This book is different. You've really never read a book like this before.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Novel to Beat in 2011 30 Mar 2011
By mredwards
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Even if The Afterparty hadn't included a plea to come online and post a review (which it does, very cleverly) I would have rushed to Amazon to shout about this brilliantly clever book. I will be amazed if a more entertaining, clever novel comes out this year. The story-within-a-story narrative works surprisingly well, the writing is smooth and consistently inventive, and the characters - a a mix of real and imagined celebs and citizens - leap off the page.

You will love The Afterparty if you interested in at least two of the following: The X Factor, Bret Easton Ellis, the literary scene, tabloid journalism, Heat magazine, ketamine, Michael Barrymore's private life, Celebrity Big Brother, Pete Doherty, supermodels, nervous breakdowns, our society's terrifying hurtle towards moral and spiritual oblivion, Rebekah Wade and human-canine sex.

That's just about everybody then.

Mark Edwards
Co-Author of Killing Cupid
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I have never read anything quite like it before. 4 Mar 2011
By I Readalot TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This may be an odd way to start a review but in order to get the most out of this book you should avoid reading any! With that in mind I will avoid giving anything away.

'The Afterparty' opens with an email from William Mendez to Valerie Morrell, a literary agent, enclosing the first chapter of his book 'Publicity'. Then we read the first chapter of the novel. 'Publicity' opens at an 'A' list celebrity party where fictional characters mingle with real life celebs. 'Afterpary' continues in this way with each chapter being punctuated with email correspondence which highlights the writing process of 'Publicity' including the changing of character names, formatting of text etc. The fictional aspect of 'Publicity' is therefore highlighted while the reader is encouraged to read the email correspondence as 'real life'. Then something happens at the afterparty (within 'Publicity') that changes everything.

Mendez is loath to provide a synopsis of his book for Morrell as he wants her to read the story as it develops and he definitely does not want her to know how it ends. He even wants to write the 'blurb' himself as he believes that far too often this gives away too much information. Therefore I have to bow to the 'authors' wishes and leave readers to 'discover' this novel for themselves.

It is a novel within a novel, a thriller that kept me reading as I wondered what twist in the plot was coming next, whether my suspicions of what was going on were justified. Definitely one of those books you should read before too many people start talking about it - and they will. In conclusion, I can't remember the last time I had so much fun reading a novel.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars A fiction within a fiction within a fiction ... 19 April 2011
By P. Millar VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
Another day, another post-modern(-ish) novel which interweaves a fictionalised novel with the fictionalised account of how the novel came about, and it even includes the author as a character. Essentially it's about a fictionalised real event which is turned into a fictional novel with fictional emails dealing with how the novel is going to be published and how the actual novel you are reading is finally published. It has a twist which is fairly well sign-posted, it deals with the real and the fictionalised media representation of celebrity and, did I mention, it also features the real author as a character?

This is essentially post-modern lite for people that wouldn't normally read post-modern stuff. It is a novel within a novel. It is fairly uninspiring and unoriginal (which is really what post-modernism is all about) and wouldn't have been so bad if it had something interesting to say. Its about reality and fiction and fictionalised reality. Sometimes with these type of novels I get a niggling feeling that someone has written a not very good novel and to get it published they turn it into a not very good novel written by someone else and then make it self-referential.

Overall not one for me but you may enjoy it if you haven't encountered this type of novel before.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Great fun to read......
This is a debut novel from a popular Guardian writer. While reading the first chapter I thought I would hate it and even wondered about putting it aside. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Wynne Kelly
3.0 out of 5 stars Not fantastic but not terrible either
I picked this up in an airport and had nothing to go on but the cover blurb. Since finishing it I have read some of the reviews and this is my opinion. Read more
Published 13 months ago by I. Tunnacliffe
3.0 out of 5 stars the Afterparty
This is a modern satire and a true reflection of the times we live in. This book is written in the form of email between characters which to me is a modern update on the letters... Read more
Published 13 months ago by dali
3.0 out of 5 stars Clever concept
Literary agent Val receives an email containing the first chapter of a novel. After she displays her initial interest more chapters follow one by one. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Penny B
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably entertaining book
I read this book in October 2011, loved it and felt it had all the good viral techniques to make it a truly "live" book. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Kirsten
2.0 out of 5 stars Postmodern Tricksy Over-Long Predictable Novel
This novel thinks it's clever. The publishing people also think its brilliantly clever, because they are obviously spending a 6 figure sum promoting it and this author. Read more
Published 21 months ago by EddieMan
4.0 out of 5 stars Original, intriguing and rather gripping
I found this book really quite different, it is structured in a way I haven't come across before and it has lots of clever little touches and more than a few in-jokes which draw... Read more
Published 21 months ago by T. SMEDLEY
3.0 out of 5 stars Good read, graphic sex scenes
This is a good read, let down only by the length of the graphic sexual encounters. At times you'll find yourself reading through two to three pages of "ugh" etc. Read more
Published 22 months ago by M. Hoy
4.0 out of 5 stars Original, Unusual and Intelligent.
I am genuinely impressed with this book. Ever since the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books of my childhood, I've enjoyed books which do something different, either in the way... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mr. D. J. Brindle
4.0 out of 5 stars Better than I'd expected
I was concerned that The Afterparty might be a blokey equivalent of those paralysed-from-the-neck-up chick lit sagas about PAs in media companies getting drunk and parties and... Read more
Published on 23 May 2011 by Alan Hansen
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