How to be famous A novel

In this follow-up to How to Build a Girl (2014), Johanna Morrigan is 19 and living her midnineties-London dreams: a solo flat and a music-writing career as her alter ego, Dolly Wilde. Catchy Britpop reigns, and though she loves Oasis and Blur as much as everyone else does, she can't help but notice how "bloke-y" the movement and the magazine she writes for are. She quits, lands a new gig as a fame columnist, and befriends the wildly fun Suzanne, front woman of an exciting new band. After a video of Johanna having sex (and bad sex at that) with a famous comedian circulates, she is devastated until she finds a way to regain her power in the situation. She is still secretly head-over-heels for John Kite—even more complicated now that he is gobsmackingly famous. But she has something to say about the way he and so many other men ridicule the fandom of teenage girls; after all, she is one herself. Moran's funny, female-centric writing is a treasure, and despite the throwback setting, this feels just right for 2018. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Moran followed her award-winning, New York Times best-selling feminist memoir, How To Be a Woman, with the widely and hand-clappingly reviewed debut novel, How To Build a Girl. In this sequel, 18-year-old Johanna Morrigan (aka Dolly Wilde) lives in London and writes for an of-the-moment music magazine. She's jealous of friend John's big BritPop music success—until she has the idea of writing a column about the ups and down of getting and being famous.With a 40,000-copy first printing. Copyright 2018 Library Journal.

In this sequel to her debut, How To Build a Girl, Moran returns to the story of Dolly Wilde. At 19, she's on her own in London, writing about new music for a popular British magazine and living her dream, until she falls in love with young musician John Kite, who suddenly leaves her behind as he makes it big in the 1994 music scene. John and Dolly are friends, but she doubts he would ever want more, so she decides to start a monthly column on all the aspects, good and bad, of being famous. Dolly's a talented writer, but sometimes she makes bad decisions, like having a one-night stand with a famous comedian. Slut-shaming soon follows, which in light of the #MeToo movement makes this book both timely and important. Eventually, Dolly pushes through the pain, turns the shame into her own kind of fame, and wins the man of her dreams. VERDICT With an indelible protagonist and a wicked sense of humor, Moran's topical, feminist fiction will appeal to strong women of any age.—Stacy Alesi, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL Copyright 2018 Library Journal.

Moran's rollicking second novel (after How to Build a Girl) characteristically combines nonstop witticisms with razor-sharp, pointed, and timely cultural critique. Johanna Morrigan (pen name Dolly Wilde) is making her way at 19 in mid-'90s London writing for a music magazine and intent on cultural and sexual adventure. As her ambition and wit propel her further into the world of celebrity in the age of Britpop, she encounters unexpected triumphs, but also challenges: workplace harassment; sexual imbalances of power; and the outsized role of gender in art and criticism, fame and fandom. Moran's depiction of London is detailed and exuberant, and a convincing backdrop for her unflinching exploration of these issues (though the language used to describe them sometimes seems anachronistically plucked straight from 2018 and #MeToo). Better still, her characters are madcap and lovable but nuanced enough to feel real: Dolly's friend Suzanne is strident and wise but also self-centered and irresponsible; her family is loyal but dysfunctional; and her true but unrequited love, John Kite, is a sweet and genuine musical talent who poorly manages his newfound fame. With Dolly, Moran has created an excellent heroine that readers will enjoy spending a summer day with. (July) Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly.

Johanna Morrigan hatches a plan to win the man of her dreams, a BritPop sensation, but soon finds out that being in the public eye is not all it's cracked up to be when a one-night stand comes back with a vengeance.

Johanna Morrigan hatches a plan to win the man of her dreams, a BritPop sensation, but soon finds out that being in the public eye is not all it’s cracked up to be when a one-night stand comes back with a vengeance. 40,000 first printing.

A Library Journal Best Book of 2018“Who better than Caitlin Moran to bring fame down to earth with a bump?” —Helen Fielding, bestselling author of Bridget Jones's Diary. From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Be a Woman—a hilarious, exhilarating novel about a young woman making it in a world where men hold all the power.Johanna Morrigan (aka Dolly Wilde) has it all: she is nineteen, lives in her own flat in London, and writes for the coolest music magazine in Britain. Her star is rising, just not quickly enough for her liking.Then John Kite, Johanna’s unrequited love, has an album go to number one. Suddenly John exists on another plane of reality: that of the Famouses, a world of rabid fans and VIP access. Johanna lacks the traditional trappings of fame (famous parents, mind-scorching hotness, exotic scandals, etc.), so she does the only thing a self-respecting Lady Sex Adventurer can do. She starts a magazine column critiquing the lives and follies of the Famouses around her. But as Johanna skyrockets to fame herself, she begins to realize that with celebrity comes sacrifice, and hers may mean giving up the one person she was determined to keep.For anyone who has been a girl or known one, who has admired fame or judged it, How to Be Famous is a big-hearted, hilarious tale of fame and fortune—and all that they entail.

A Library Journal Best Book of 2018Johanna Morrigan (aka Dolly Wilde) has it all: she is nineteen, lives in her own flat in London, and writes for the coolest music magazine in Britain. Her star is rising, just not quickly enough for her liking. Then John Kite, Johanna's unrequited love, has an album go to number one. Suddenly John exists on another plane of reality: that of the Famouses, a world of rabid fans and VIP access. Johanna lacks the traditional trappings of fame (famous parents, mind-scorching hotness, exotic scandals, etc.), so she does the only thing a self-respecting Lady Sex Adventurer can do. She starts a magazine column critiquing the lives and follies of the Famouses around her. But as Johanna skyrockets to fame herself, she begins to realize that with celebrity comes sacrifice, and hers may mean giving up the one person she was determined to keep. For anyone who has been a girl or known one, who has admired fame or judged it, How to Be Famous is a big-hearted, hilarious tale of fame and fortune'and all that they entail.