Johanna Morrigan (pen name of Dolly Wilde) has left home at eighteen and gone to London in 1994. She is a writer at a music magazine. She gets to go to the hottest shows, party with the biggest names and live a crazy life. Her best friend and the love of her life (though he doesn’t know it yet) John Kite has made it big as a pop star. He’s away now all the time on tour and she is missing him. She’s also having an issue at her job and quits. She finds another job writing a monthly column for another magazine.
She’s also learning about her actions. She meets a comedian and has sex with him and he tapes it. She also meets Suzanne who is a feminist and the leader of a new band the The Branks. She is out of her mind crazy (like most people in the music industry). Dolly ends up partying too much, missing John, dealing with her dad who is having a mid-life crisis, having sex with her friend who is a virgin and dealing with the sex tape made of her.
She is becoming famous for the wrong reason. And when John starts having a meltdown by the fame and demands of becoming famous it is Dolly who is there for him. She finally understands though that if she is going to have a future with him she needs to take care of herself first. She turns the tables and does the unexpected.
Author Caitlin Moran is a Twitter star and her first novel How To Be A Woman was a New York Times Bestseller. This book is a great look at 1994/95 music scene in London. It’s full of sex, drugs and rock n’roll. The craziness of that time is fully depicted and the LOL moments are too many to name. An enjoyable read from start to finish.
You can pick up How To Be Famous in stores on Tuesday, July 3rd from Harper.
