This is gutsily written, and highly informative when it comes to the ins and outs of running a refugee camp, and the difficulty of raising awareness and money when people aren’t seen to be “starving enough”. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that tackles the subject with quite such zeal. It was an eye-opener. And yet the storyline back in London, where the narrator gets involved in an emotionally abusive relationship with a media personality and rubs noses with all sorts of flamboyant (and almost universally dislikeable) slebs, sits uncomfortably alongside it. Both were well written, but despite the fact that having the celebs come over and support an emergency appeal was a key part of the novel, the two strands of the story felt horribly jarring. Maybe it’s significant that there is a nostalgic feel to the London sections with the yuppie culture (at its height when the novel came out), and that only recently have questions started to be seriously posed about “white saviours” and the focus on celebrities by organisations like Comic Relief. Either way, an informative read but one that never felt quite like a rounded whole. ( )

This was a very quick and easy read about British aid workers in Africa. It was such an easy read I would recommend it to anyone, but especially to those who've worked in the non-profit international development or aid communities. ( )

Interesting book where famine relief work is juxtapositioned with true chick lit episodes. ( )

I actually liked this better than [b:Bridget Jones's Diary|227443|Bridget Jones's Diary|Helen Fielding|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J5NZ2MJ4L._SL75_.jpg|3185154]. I believe it was a less-successful earlier novel that was republished after Bridget's success. The setting among relief workers in Africa is both unusual and lends a certain gravitas to what is, essentially, "chick lit." But good chick lit. ( )

My personal opinion is that Fielding's best work was Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, but this novel did offer an interesting perspective on the humanitarian crisis in Africa during the 1980's. If you've never read any of her other books, I'd suggest the Bridget books, but if you have and you like her style...go for it. ( )

I just couldn't get interested in it at all. ( )

When Helen Fielding writes about the celebrity culture, you have the distinct feeling that the sort of culture she is thinking of is something unpleasant that one might find growing on a dish in a lab, or on suspicious cheese at the back of the fridge, rather than culture as associated with the arts and, in particular, the arts as discussed by earnest people with thick hair, an extensive wardrobe of black clothes and enough bullshit to fertilise half of the developing world.


There are three stories in Cause Celeb that begin by running alongside one another before crashing together in the middle of the story and then continuing, weaving ever more tightly together, to the conclusion.

To begin with, there's girl meets boy. Or rather; girl meets maniac. Our heroine falls for a chap who is at the very centre of London's celebrity culture, a leading figure in the 'Famous Club' of celebs who wine and dine in an endless series of parties and events, he is both famous and dashing and clever and talented and an utter, utter shit. Rosie Richardson lusts after and then gets her man, except that her man, Oliver, swings wildly between being a normal sweet natured boyfriend (who just happens to be famous, know lots of famous people and leads a glamorous that’s life not so much sprinkled with showbiz magic as showered with the stuff) and a grade one listed nutter with the morals of a concentration camp guard. It takes Rosie a trip to famine struck Africa, a minor breakdown and an entire Christmas selection box of chocolate before she has a sugar-rush induced breakthrough that sees off her breakdown and allows her to see through him. She then drops him faster than plutonium poo and heads back to Africa to be an aid worker.



Life in the aid camp is the second strand of the story. The African landscape is described vividly, especially the dusty browns and reds of the soil (this is a famine zone after all) but even the landscape is not as colourful as the characters working for the various charities providing famine relief. All are there for different reasons (Rosie has a broken heart) and all come with more baggage than a Victorian safari.



Then there's the Famous Club itself. Fielding explains the rules and behavior of the famous people of London with the same care she takes to explain the exotic wild life of Africa. When the two collide (Rosie returning to London to try and persuade former acquaintances to work to raise awareness of an impending humanitarian disaster) it's culture shock after culture shock as Rosie finds the world of celebs and the media as irritating as African bureaucracy and as tricky as rebel ambushes.



The book is very, very funny. It turns a spotlight on the Famous Club and its attitude to charity (one celeb adopts foreign orphans, another champions the plight of the rainforests - sound familiar?) but it's also very affecting, not just in the way the thoroughly likeable Rosie's heart is kicked around by a bully of a boyfriend but in the descriptions of what war and famine does to people. The final chapter in particular is nothing short of harrowing.



This is an excellent examination of what’s important. The attitude of non-famous people to those who are famous is explored but not as thoroughly as the attitude of famous people to other famous people and, if any of it is true (and there’s no reason why it should not be), then it would appear that actors, actresses, playwrights, models and assorted meeja wankers are just as vapid as you’d secretly suspected while their agents are the last word in vile and the people who run commercial television are beyond redemption. It’s fascinating to read such a compelling description of the fame food chain in a story about famine.

Fielding has pulled off quite a feat here: a story about the fame culture in London, kick started by a romance and used to deliver a tale about famine, suffering and what charity, and dedicating your life to something worthwhile rather than something that brings the trappings of success, means. ( )

Rosie Richardson works at a refugee camp in Nambula, Africa, where she's been for the last four years after breaking off a toxic relationship with the famous television man Oliver Merchant in London. It took me a while to get into this book, as it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a serious look at starvation in the Third World, or Bridget Jones Goes to Africa (yes, I know it was written before Bridget Jones's Diary, but you get my drift). Some parts were very funny, and others made me feel like Fielding was trying to browbeat me into donating to charity. At first it stirred my compassion, but by the end it felt more like a lecture than a story. Fielding also relied a bit too heavily on dialect for differentiation, turning her characters into charicatures. Still, there was a fair bit of humor and reasonably engrossing drama; this was certainly not a bad first novel, but I can understand why Bridget Jones is so much more popular. ( )

This book was entertaining and thought provoking. Not just your average chick lit. As someone who has visited a third world country intending to "help", it really hit home. ( )

This was a good book. It was darker than I expected, with serious subject matter infiltrating the author's usual absurd take on British social situations. ( )

No where near as good as the Bridget Jones books ( )

Boring, stupid, trying to be clever and coming out obnoxious. Celebrities are spoiled? Who knew?! Avoid this, and stick with Bridget. ( )

This book was better than I'd expected it to be. Chick-lit, but with a social conscience. Our heroine runs a familne relief camp in Africa, and deals with all the usual chick-lit issues, plus a few extras. ( )

This is Helen Fielding's first book, written ages before Bridget Jones. She worked in BBC TV and knows whereof she speaks, this book really raises some issues about celebrities and causes. A wry, satirical look at the whole attitude to charity for the 3rd world, and written long before Bono, Angelina Jolie, Madonna et al had jetted off to improve their "caring" quotient and make themselves feel good. ( )

Much much better than the Bridget Jones books. This seemed more believable, more human and thought-provoking. Highly recommended. ( )

It's so very different from her Bridget Jones' offerings. I found it a tedious read. ( )

Cassie Knight, consultant for Catholic Relief Services and who has been involved in relief work for ten years, has chosen to discuss Helen Fielding’s Cause Celeb, on FiveBooks (http://five-books.com) as one of the top five on her subject - Aid Work, saying that:

“…I believe that this is the only novel about emergency response. It’s the story of a woman who drops her boyfriend and well-paid job in London and goes to a made-up African country. She gets involved in the relief efforts after a famine and feels really strongly about it. It’s a slightly simplistic account, but a pretty accurate portrayal of what goes on…”

The full interview is available here: http://thebrowser.com/books/interviews/cassie-knight ( )