Chart Throb

By: Ben Elton

Narrated by: Adam Godley

Brought to you by Penguin.


Chart Throb.The ultimate pop quest.

Ninety five thousand hopefuls. Three judges. Just one winner.
And that's Calvin Simms, the genius behind the show.

Calvin always wins because Calvin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits smugly in judgement upon the mingers, clingers and blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted 'search' for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The 'real' is about to be put back into 'reality' television and Calvin and his fellow judges (the nation's favourite mum and the other bloke) are about to become ex-factors themselves.

Ben Elton, author of Popcorn and Dead Famous returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows.

Chart Throb. One winner. A whole bunch of losers.


© Ben Elton 2006 (P) Penguin Audio 2006

Book of the year! Humourous look at TV culture

Ben Elton's "Chart Throb" lashes out at the makers as well as viewers of pulp TV reality shows and (non) talent contests. Yep, we are implicitly talking about The Osbournes, X-Factor, Dancing on ice with the Stars. Ben Elton is asking (and answering) all the right questions in this entertaining novel: how many of the "spontaneous" moments are scripted? what is the objective of these shows.... to truly find talent or to make fun of well-meaning contestants? how far would you go as an individual to gain your 10 seconds of fame? Listening to "Chart Throb" provided me with four hours of suspense, fun, and a critical look at what's on current day telly. A definite eye opener. I would recommend it to anyone! If you enjoy Carl Hiaasen or Nick Hornby, then Ben Elton is certainly a writer you need to discover. I first came across his work with the excellent "Popcorn", and have by now read most of his other work (including the excellent Big Brother parody Dead Famous).

"throbing fun"

This is an exellent book, whitt and humor ala Ben Elton. If you liked his works you'll like this one.