Book info

• Title Popcorn
• Author Ben Elton
• Year 1996
• Genre Humour

Bruce shoots movies. Wayne and Scout shoot to kill. In a single night they find out the hard way what's real and what's not, who's the hero and who's the villain. The USA watches slack-jawed as Bruce and Wayne together resolve some serious questions. Does Bruce use erection cream? Does art imitate life or does life simply imitate bad art? And most of all, does sugar-pie really love his honeybun?

Thoughts

An extremely famous movie maker wins an Oscar, but his murder films create a pair of copycat killers, so that he gets the blame. The book tells the story of one night in the life of Bruce Delamitri, and whether he can survive his post-Oscar evening.

It’s impossible to like Bruce. He is pompous and full of himself, and a guy that is hard to muster sympathy for. Brooke, his lady-friend, is unnecessarily caught up in the events, and it’s her that I really felt for.

There’s something about Elton’s writing that I find really grating. It’s supposed to be satirical, a poke of fun at the Hollywood industry, but there’s something about it that comes across a little snobbish, a little egotistical. That being said, it was funny to read, but I think a lot of the more snide comments passed me by because I just didn’t want to take them on board.

The structure of the book, looking back on that night from the safety of the next day, is really well thought out and somehow manages to keep up the suspense, despite obviously knowing who is going to survive.

Rating: 2 / 5