This Is Your Life: A Novel - Softcover

O'Farrell, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080214134X ISBN 13: 9780802141347

Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004

Synopsis

It's a big night at the London Palladium. Jimmy Conway is about to perform his stand-up comedy routine in front of two thousand invited guests and millions live on TV. He steps out blinking into the spotlights and waits for the applause to die down. He tries to appear confident but he can't help wondering whether he should have shared his little secret with someone by now. Jimmy has never performed anything before-ever. How did he get here? Following the death of a national celebrity, the under-achieving Jimmy convinces a naive journalist that he is the latest comedy phenomenon. He then embarks on a series of misadventures, bluffing and stumbling his way up the celebrity ladder, discovering as he goes that in their desperation to be associated with the next big thing, nobody has bothered to check his credentials. Quicker than you can say "flavor of the month," Jimmy Conway becomes a bogus celebrity, winning an award for something he never did, being photographed in magazines posing in someone else's house, and ultimately fooling, and making a fool of, the entire celebrity industry. Sharp, witty, and hilarious, This Is Your Life is a funny, stinging look at our celebrity-obsessed society.

About this title

Review

"Very funny--this engaging farce is peppered with O'Farrell's observations on personal fulfillment and the media."

Book Description

A compelling and very funny novel about how we define 'success'

Edition details

• Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080214134X
• ISBN 13: 9780802141347
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 313