Chart Throb - Ben Elton

I love Ben Elton's books, and whenever a new one comes out - usually just before Christmas by some strange co-incidence, I always have a quiet word with the bearded fella in the dodgy red suit. He usually comes up trumps, and this year was no different - there it was in my Christmas stocking all nicely wrapped in shiny gold paper - "Chart Throb - The Ultimate Pop Quest".

The story follows the reality TV programme, Chart Throb, which starts with ninety five thousand entrants to the hottest show on TV. Of course there can only be one winner - and that's where the three celebrity judges come in.

The Judges

1. Calvin Simms - apparently the genius behind the wildly successful television talent show, Calvin is always the ultimate winner. With his intuitive grasp of the popular zeitgeist, Calvin has made it his show and he makes the rules - end of story. He's the rude, acerbic English element of the trio, and has carefully selected his fellow judges to ensure the formula succeeds.

2. Beryl Blenheim - a maternal star of her own reality TV series about a highly dysfunctional family, which features her mumbling partner, two horrendous offspring and various farm animals which are encouraged to defecate in the house during filming, to make for better TV.

3. The Other Bloke - aka Rodney Root, a pleasant pop professional who is desperate to raise his public profile and is routinely bullied by Calvin and humiliated by Beryl, fully aware that he will be sacked from the show if he doesn't do as he's told.

Does all this sound somewhat familiar? Well there's more - from the screeching Keely, the manic, OTT presenter of Chart Throb to the contestants themselves - all categorised by a team of researchers under the rather cruel headings of "Clingers, Mingers or Blingers".

Clingers are those who are desperate and self deluded, without the flipside of having any talent of all - and of course they make great TV. The Blingers are the extroverts - the ones who show off and aren't afraid to make complete idiots of themselves on national TV. And the Mingers - the essential element and the life blood of Chart Throb, are described as being "The true casualties, the saddos, the uglies, the comically short-sighted, misshapen, obese, educationally challenged and spotty nerds".

The twist to this year's Chart Throb is that Calvin has been challenged to a secret bet that will cost him his entire fortune if he loses. He has to ensure that any person named by his soon to be ex wife will win - and when she names her candidate, the story really gets going!

Ben Elton rips away the gloss to reveal the ugly underbelly of reality TV, including the ruthless manipulation of both the contestants and the voting public. There's sympathetic treatment for some of the more likeable contestants, a bit of a love interest for Calvin along the way and a shock ending. It's a very entertaining book, which sails perilously close to the wind on many occasions. In fact there are bits where I cannot imagine how legal action hasn't been taken against Ben Elton - perhaps he's done just enough to cover his back over the similarities between his characters and the judging panel of a certain reality TV talent contest!

Chart Throb is compulsive reading - it is fast paced and there are so many twists and turns, sub plots and character developments that it really is hard to put down once you've started it. Riotously funny, vulgar and bitingly satirical, this book really does deconstruct contemporary television talent shows in a hilariously entertaining way. The only criticism I have is that the ending feels somewhat rushed - as though the author got a bit fed up with it and just decided to finish it as quickly as possible and get it in the shops in time for Christmas.

Would I recommend it? On balance, yes - it's a good read and a brilliant parody of a high profile TV show and it's associated stars, but I'm not sure it's as good as most of Ben's other books.Published by Bantam Press
ISBN 0-593-05749

Hardback priced at around £17.99 in shops or from £10.79 on Amazon.