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3,5/5
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Popcorn
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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?
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1996
This edition
- Format
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320 pages, Paperback
- Published
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January 1, 2003 by Black Swan
- ISBN
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9780552771849
- ASIN
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0552771848
- Language
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English
About the author
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Ben Elton was born on 3 May 1959, in Catford, South London. The youngest of four, he went to Godalming Grammar school, joined amateur dramatic societies and wrote his first play at 15. He wanted to be a stagehand at the local theatre, but instead did A-Level Theatre Studies and studied drama at Manchester University in 1977.
His career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. His ground breaking work as a TV stand-up comedian set the (high) standard of what was to follow. He has received accolades for his hit TV sit-coms, The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.
More recently he has had successes with three hit West End musicals, including the global phenomenon We Will Rock You. He has written three plays for the London stage, including the multi-award-winning Popcorn. Ben's international bestselling novels include Stark, Inconceivable, Dead Famous and High Society. He won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for the novel Popcorn.
Elton lives in Perth with his Aussie wife Sophie and three children.
His career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. His ground breaking work as a TV stand-up comedian set the (high) standard of what was to follow. He has received accolades for his hit TV sit-coms, The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.
More recently he has had successes with three hit West End musicals, including the global phenomenon We Will Rock You. He has written three plays for the London stage, including the multi-award-winning Popcorn. Ben's international bestselling novels include Stark, Inconceivable, Dead Famous and High Society. He won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for the novel Popcorn.
Elton lives in Perth with his Aussie wife Sophie and three children.
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Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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A book of it's time perhaps. Didn't care for any of the characters. Felt it was quite a bitter look at the media, society and politics. In fact, it felt like a knee jerk reaction to Tarantino's films such as Pulp Fiction that was released a couple of years before. Not sure if he was a fan. The characters were so obnoxious, I imagine he isn't a fan. Really struggled to finish and find anything meaningful in it. Felt like someone in a very bitter mood wrote this.
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Gun violence is art when it’s in a movie by Oscar-winning director Bruce Demitri - not so much when it crosses over into his life. After a slow start that reeked of the 90s, this became fast and fun. A platform for classic Ben Elton rants about capitalist hypocrisy - perceptive, sharp and relentless.
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Wow! My first book of 2021 and I cannot imagine I will read a worse book this year. This won a Gold Dagger Award? This is "brilliant satire"? No, this is a mess.
Ben Elton writes deeply clever TV comedy. The Young Ones, Alfresco Blackadder, Upstart Crow, winning works all. The Thin Blue Line is the weakest of his TV work but pure genius compared to this drivel.
Elton seems to have no idea where he intends to go for at least the first 50 pages. There are sentences that are excruciating to read (the editor either nodded off or missed those entirely). This is a uniquely American story loaded down with British idioms. There are no characters here, just caricatures.
At least I will never again wonder what Ben Elton the novelist is like. I now sadly know.
Ben Elton writes deeply clever TV comedy. The Young Ones, Alfresco Blackadder, Upstart Crow, winning works all. The Thin Blue Line is the weakest of his TV work but pure genius compared to this drivel.
Elton seems to have no idea where he intends to go for at least the first 50 pages. There are sentences that are excruciating to read (the editor either nodded off or missed those entirely). This is a uniquely American story loaded down with British idioms. There are no characters here, just caricatures.
At least I will never again wonder what Ben Elton the novelist is like. I now sadly know.
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Obvious satire
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Picked this up at a honest library and can’t say I really enjoyed it that much. I forced myself to finish it. I get that it is a satire and asking the question does violence in the media cause more violence. The characters were all deeply unlikeable (which I think was the point) and it felt extraordinarily rushed towards the end. So many reviews stated that this would be a ‘funny’ read but I can’t say I even smiled once while reading it. Maybe it was a riot when it first came out. But in 2022 it just wasn’t for me.
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Brilliant and pointedly funny. This was my first time reading Elton and I look forward to reading his other books.
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Ben Elton turns the sharp end of his pen towards slasher movies in Popcorn. This darkly comic tale sees the convergence of celebrated movie director Bruce Delamitri and murdering psychopaths Wayne and Scout.
Very much the theme of this novel is society’s aversion to responsibility. Bruce is facing accusations that his violent films breed violent acts, a la Sandy Hook and Batman Begins, which he refutes. Essentially, is TV a reflection or influence on society?
It’s a complex issue and Elton explores it well. There are strong arguments put forth by each side, though you get an idea of what his own views are.
The characters are less memorable than in Chart Throb or Dead Famous. Truthfully, the cast is very functional and plot based. The pace is steady but doesn’t build any tension or reach a climax that seems in any way different from the rest of the book.
Occasionally, Elton switches from prose to scripting the action along with directors’ notes. It’s an odd experiment and doesn’t add anything. In fact, it’s a little strange.
A very witty and typically accurate examination of popular culture, Popcorn captures the zeitgeist of our buck passing, blame shifting era and creates a very readable book on the way.
Very much the theme of this novel is society’s aversion to responsibility. Bruce is facing accusations that his violent films breed violent acts, a la Sandy Hook and Batman Begins, which he refutes. Essentially, is TV a reflection or influence on society?
It’s a complex issue and Elton explores it well. There are strong arguments put forth by each side, though you get an idea of what his own views are.
The characters are less memorable than in Chart Throb or Dead Famous. Truthfully, the cast is very functional and plot based. The pace is steady but doesn’t build any tension or reach a climax that seems in any way different from the rest of the book.
Occasionally, Elton switches from prose to scripting the action along with directors’ notes. It’s an odd experiment and doesn’t add anything. In fact, it’s a little strange.
A very witty and typically accurate examination of popular culture, Popcorn captures the zeitgeist of our buck passing, blame shifting era and creates a very readable book on the way.
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