FAMOUS PEOPLE

This is a novel about fame. Mega-fame. Teen idol, pop-star fame. The unnamed narrator has been a sensation since he was twelve, when a video of him singing the national anthem went viral. Now, ten years later, though his fame has only grown exponentially, certain existential doubts intrude.

Haunted by the suicide of his father, who was also his manager during his early career, unsettled by the very different path his teenage love (and girl pop-star counterpart) “Mandy” has taken, and increasingly aware that he has signed on to something he has little power over, he begins to parse the meaning of freedom and the divide that separates him from the “normal people” of the world.

Justin Kuritzkes captures the language of a generation while commenting on the philosophical and psychological impacts of fame. It's deliciously pitch- perfect and way smarter than it has any right to be. There are some powerful, touching moments, and the narrator's ebullience and distinctive intelligence is irresistible. A philosophical dimension might be the last thing you expect, but it's a novel that raises some searching questions about life.

Justin Kuritzkes is a rising young playwright and comedian in the NY theatre scene; productions of his plays have been staged at The New Group, JACK, Ars Nova, and the Actors Theatre of Louisville. He is also something of a YouTube celebrity, where his channel of monologues and original pop tunes has 35,000 subscribers and over 6.5 million views. He's been awarded residencies at Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and the Edward Albee Foundation. He lives in New York.