There was plenty to like about this one, and plenty to not like. In the end, this book was just kinda there for me, completely neutral. It definitely felt like Fielding was testing out her noveling legs with this one, and the growing pains of this book eventually lead to the awesomeness of Bridget Jones. Some of my favorite elements of this book made it into Bridget Jones as well, such as the arrogant charming boyfriend clashing with the practical smart potential boyfriend, the completely relatable female protagonist, and the description of frustrations that professional women face daily. I also appreciated the juxtaposition that Fielding pulled off in switching between life in a refugee camp with its horrors and bureaucracies, life amongst celebrities with their vanity and disconnection from the real word, and then the very real and startling results when the two conflicting worlds finally clash.

But, sadly, I must admit that I was also quite bored by large sections of the book, including scenes that should have been the most compelling. Our protagonist goes on an action-adventure in the middle of the book that somehow, despite explosions and adventure and romance, seemed to drag so badly that I found myself just skimming in an attempt to get through it all. In scenes such as this, Fielding seemed to rely on simple play-by-plays of the plot's occurrences, making the otherwise engaging writing suddenly turn into what felt like a dry non-fiction. It made me upset with myself when I realized that I was much more interested in Rosie's stupid girly crush on a celebrity than I was in her heroic adventure in Africa, but I think this was because the human element that Fielding usually conveys so well was suddenly missing from these more exotic scenes. When Rosie gets back into her camp and interacts with the refugees and aid workers there, things get a bit better. My other gripe is that I also found myself confusing the celebrities a bit, as there are many, many listed and to me it wasn't clear which ones we were supposed to actually remember. (Similarly, I also got the various aid agency middle-manager types confused, but this didn't really bother me since I think that added to the feeling of hopelessness that Rosie felt in her predicament.)

So overall this worked pretty well for me as a plane/beach read that I could knock out in a couple days, with potential here and there, but also with uneven storytelling that kept me from getting as engrossed as I would have wanted.

If you have read Fielding's Bridget Jones books--this is nothing like them (which I see as a plus). The characters are believable, face real dilemmas, are intelligent (but human) and are interested in more than their own small problems. Sadly, Fielding has apparently decided that writing trash is more rewarding. While the Bridget Jones' are (clearly) not my favorite, I was hoping that she might go back to writing something like this after exhausting the Bridget Jones frenzy. I was extremely disappointed however, when I read "Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination" (her latest, as far as I know). Maybe she had just one good book in her. Okay, maybe that's kind of harsh, since Fielding is a great commercial success, but when I read a book I like (such as Cause Celeb) and then other books by the author are less than mediocre- I am extremely disappointed. Which fits in with my theory that sequels are just an attempt to capitalize on the success of a book, by rewriting the same book (thus I avoid them like the plague, because who wants to read a new book that turns out to be the same book? If you really wanted to read the same book twice then you would read the same book twice (right?)...But it seems I am in the minority here, and I digress...
In summation-Casue Celeb=good, in contrast, anything else by Helen Fielding=sadly disappointing. This is what chick lit should be like (in my humble opinion).

Melting in the same pot a chick-lit with (a sort of...) a humor book and a story about disasters is like combining a rhino, a goose and a donkey in an orchestra.
It may sound well, even if I doubt it very much, but you might not find the proper audience...
So, three stars are partly for the soul and, most important, for Helen's pedigree in Africa.

Το βιβλίο κυκλοφόρησε στα Ελληνικά με τίτλο Ω!τι υπέροχος κόσμος

Not at all what I was expecting from Bridget Jones’s mother. But an interesting subject and a much better use of our heroines time than the start of the book

It starts slow but becomes a real page turner by page 90 or so. The main character is relatable although not perfect. Or maybe relatable because of it. It's a masterfully composed story of personal growth through erroneous decisions, a whole lot of them. It's a great candidate for all women's book club. It offers so many angels for a discussion: post-colonialism, pop culture, elitism, womanhood, relationships, codependency, to name a few.

"Cause Celeb" was Helen Fielding's debut novel, in advance of her overwhelming success with "Bridget Jones's Diary" and its sequel. This book does not have the sparkle that the Bridget Jones twosome owns, but all the same elements are there and show the promise to come. The main character and narrator is Rosie Richardson, a literary publicist obviously chosen for her job because of her decorative function at literary events. She is not as shallow as her employer and celebrity friends believe, as events prove in the novel. Rosie lives in London, as the story begins, and meets many of the City's glitterati at publishing receptions, book fairs, hot restaurants, and the homes of the glamourous. She meets the incredibly handsome TV presenter Oliver Marchant who moves from her rich fantasy life to her real life. Marchant is a Jekyll-and-Hyde, seamlessly transitioning from caring boyfriend to demanding egotist. 'Dysfunctional' is not a sufficiently complex adjective to describe their relationship. When Rosie is with Oliver in one of his aggressive moments, she recognizes that he is poison; but she misses him and longs for him, both physically and as her own 'arm-candy', even when she knows she should be looking elsewhere and even when she knows he is with another woman.

Finally, she has enough and packs her bags, not simply to escape the London limelight and Oliver's rants, but to go to Africa as a volunteer to help refugees in a (fictional) border camp in a war-ravaged country called Nambula where famine and disease are constant. The story shifts back and forth between Rosie's London life as conditions with Oliver worsen and as the reader is gradually acclimated to her life in the refugee camp. The contrast is considerable because of the glitz factor but also because the generally warm, if eccentric, collection of characters at the refugee camp accentuates the frigid environment with Oliver in London. Rosie is the director of camp at Safila on behalf of the organization 'SUSTAIN'; and she shines spectacularly well at managing the complex politics, fund-raising, assessment of conditions, quantities of food and medicine, and the many organizations with their fingers in the mix. Her assistant Henry Montague has simply moved his marmalade-and-tea routines to the African desert; the occasional drama queen, he is still a capable administrator. Their doctor Betty is due to leave the camp to be replaced by the American Robert O'Rourke, who worked with nurse Linda previously in Chad (and, perhaps, has a relationship with her). Muhammad Mahmoud is a local who is not an official director of the camp but who has the skills and personality to rise to the occasion. Dr. O'Rourke arrives at Safila just in time for rumours of a locust plague, more famine, a huge influx of refugees, and a missing supply ship.

Rosie decides to lead an expedition to see these locusts and try to get an estimate of the expected number of refugees. She takes photos to try to twist the arms of the powers-that-be for supplies and aid. A tragedy occurs, and this event plus the sight of thousands of refugees and fields stripped by locusts cause Rosie to call on her media skills. She returns to London to organize an appeal in a very short time. During her absence from London, her celebrity 'friends' have forgotten her. But the rumour mill quickly kicks back into gear as her old boyfriend, the inconstant Oliver, is the leading famous face to step forward to help her organize the famine appeal for television. There are essential details--like getting a broadcasting satellite into position--plus the overwhelming concern about whether or not the starving refugees will show up to their party. Timing turns on a dime, while Rosie wrestles with her own heart over Oliver and the American doctor.

"Cause Celeb" is well worth reading, although I found I was at the middle of the book before it picked up steam and I got seriously interested. The book is filled with the comic twists associated with Fielding, but, because she spent time in Africa working in a relief camp herself, both the poignant and biting details feel very real. It is fun to watch Rosie turn from social butterfly to socially-conscious (and amazingly able) force of nature. It is also amusing to see in the book the reflection of celebrity faces that daily clamour for our contributions from the latest aid programs on TV.

Good book . Some lovely descriptions I could identify with . In parts very real. Written in the 1980’s so not PC

Loved it. Totally not bridget jones which i utterly adore but still wonderful fielding wit and powers of observation and description. That woman is my writer idol.

Having read Bridget Jones & another novel of Fielding's I was excited to read Cause Celeb. From the very beginning I was disappointed. The lead character is not really developed & she makes choice that I cannot understand or respect. She ended up driving me nuts, as did almost every character in the book. The dialogue for certain characters, like Nadia & Andre, was very annoying & was hard to read smoothly. There is also very little humor or romance in this book. While you feel for the refugee story the rest of it is pure cr*p and should be avoided.

Wow. This story was such a jumble. We open with Rosie working with refugees in Africa. This is interspersed with stories of her life in London, dating a celebrity and being involved in an emotionally abusive relationship. I felt like Helen Fielding couldn't quite decide which story she wanted to tell so she tried to have the best of both worlds.

Anyway the rest of the plot is that Africa is on the brink of a terrible famine and the government won't help. So Rosie returns to London to get the celebrities to take up the cause and help with money and donations. I think that the celebrities were brought in so that they could be comic relief. We could look at people who were adored by the public and see how they were fame mongerers or extremely vain or whatever. But they were all the same caricature and I would constantly get them confused.

The characters in Africa who were the genuine relief workers, including the doctor who was supposed to be Rosie's romantic interest were not as fleshed out. All we knew is that they were the good guys and once in a while something funny happened. Like when the head of the organization comes for a surprise visit and overhears not one, but two different couples fight about who's having sex with who. Yes! How hilarious.

It was not a good book and I'm sorry because it had so much potential.

A very pleasurable read.