I Could Be Famous: Darkly funny stories of ten ambitious women - and one male superstar fallen from grace - Hardcover

Rende, Sydney

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0349725284 ISBN 13: 9780349725284

Publisher: Fleet, 2026

Synopsis

'A terrific debut: fresh, original, and surprising' GEORGE SAUNDERS
'Rende's sparky stories are graced with comic timing' DAILY MAIL
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This is the story of ten ambitious women - and one male superstar fallen from grace - as they stumble through the delusional pursuit of fame

A struggling actress goes method to land the role of High School Junkie Girlfriend.
A college freshman gives the world's longest blowjob to a boy whose name she's forgotten.
An assistant helping to film celebrity homes develops a taste for kleptomania.
And linking them all is Arlo Banks, a hotshot actor facing downfall when he's accused of cannibalism.

From the dazzling to the mundane, Sydney Rende's unnerving and darkly funny stories hold a mirror to our obsession with self-image and the idea that we could - someday, somehow - be famous.
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'Outstanding... shot through with a crystalline wit and mordant surprise' MEGAN KAMALEI KAKIMOTO

'Rende's funny, sweet, stinging voice is made for this moment' JONATHAN DEE

'A startling debut... darkly funny' KIRKUS, STARRED REVIEW

About this title

About the Author

Sydney Rende grew up in Baltimore and lived in New York City for many years, where she had her own odd brushes with celebrity. She received her MFA in Fiction from Syracuse University, and her stories have been published in Joyland, Carve Magazine, and elsewhere.

From the Back Cover

'Rende's genius for the absurd is underpinned by her great comic timing... Her sharply funny and fearless stories deftly satirize our too online, celebrity obsessed cultural abyss' DANA SPIOTTA

'Outstanding... shot through with a crystalline wit and mordant surprise' MEGAN KAMALEI KAKIMOTO

'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' JONATHAN DEE

'Sharp and darkly funny... 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' ANNA DORN

From the Inside Flap

This is the story of ten ambitious women - and one male superstar fallen from grace - as they stumble through the delusional pursuit of fame

A struggling actress goes method to land the role of High School Junkie Girlfriend.
A college freshman gives the world's longest blowjob to a boy whose name she's forgotten.
An assistant helping to film celebrity homes develops a taste for kleptomania.
And linking them all is Arlo Banks, a hotshot actor facing downfall when he's accused of cannibalism.

From the dazzling to the mundane, Sydney Rende's unnerving and darkly funny stories hold a mirror to our obsession with self-image and the idea that we could - someday, somehow - be famous.

Edition details

• Publisher: Fleet
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0349725284
• ISBN 13: 9780349725284
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272