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Your next favorite book
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For fans of Homesick for Another World and HBO's Girls, a magnetic debut story collection following ten ambitious women and one male superstar as they pursue their desires-however deluded-for more.
A listless woman befriends an influencer at a rooftop party, only to discover her lifestyle is not as glamorous as it seems. A college freshman gives the world's longest blow job to a boy whose name she's forgotten. A fan-favorite reality TV star joins a dating app after an explosive breakup, ready to move on, but finds she's only in control when cameras are rolling. While working in a hot tub showroom, a struggling actress goes method so she can nail an audition for the role of High School Junkie Girlfriend. Threaded throughout these explorations of neuroses and aspirations is one Arlo Banks, a hotshot actor, who faces his own downfall when he's accused of cannibalism.
From the dazzling to the mundane, Rende's brilliant, unnerving, cynical stories hold a mirror to our obsession with how we're perceived and our ache to be adored. Above all else, I Could Be Famous is a love letter to big ambitions and bigger dissatisfactions, belief in ourselves, and the fascination we hold with the idea that we could-somehow, someday-be famous.
"Rende deftly shows the balancing act between the online and performative world in which we increasingly live and the rich, complicated interior lives of her characters. These impressive stories lay bare the hidden worlds of both the very online and those living adjacent to the spotlight or earning for it, for better or worse...Entertaining and readable stories offering a unique view into this moment of the Anthropocene." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Darkly funny and emotionally searching...Throughout, Rende demonstrates a fond regard for her characters, despite their dubious choices. Readers won't be able to help cheering them on." —Publishers Weekly
"Fame, or an obsession with it, defines Rende's first book, a collection of 11 funny-sad, celebrity-informed, and overall entertaining stories of people trying to find fulfillment where it may not exist ... While Rende's title could be true of all of us, it especially applies to her characters, who will easily slide into readers' minds and stay there." ―Booklist
"A terrific debut: fresh, original, and surprising." —George Saunders, Booker-Prize winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo
"Sydney Rende's funny, sweet, stinging voice is made for this moment, and for those coming of age within it. An important debut and an invaluable tip-sheet to the way we live now, I Could Be Famous captures perfectly the hazards of young womanhood in a world where everyone is desperate to be looked at, but wary of being seen." ―Jonathan Dee, author of Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Privileges
"Sydney Rende's debut collection spoke to me from the first line, where a receptionist cold messages a celebrity to say they'd be a 'good match.' In these propulsive stories, the tattoo of a dead mom comes to life, a woman contemplates dumping her boyfriend after he gives her a kidney, and an infomercial actress is desperate to land the role of an unnamed junkie girlfriend. Lurking throughout is a disgraced leading man accused of cannibalism and up for the role of Dracula, a twisted thread linking them all. I Could Be Famous is sharp, darkly funny, and, in the words of the reality TV star from my favorite story, 'very anthropological.'" ―Anna Dorn, author of Perfume and Pain and Exalted
This information about I Could Be Famous was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sydney Rende received her MFA in Fiction from Syracuse University. Her stories have been published in Joyland, Carve magazine, and elsewhere. She has also written about fashion and travel for Who What Wear and T: The New York Times Style Magazine. She lives in Southern California.
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