Leo Benedictus

This is the well-written, intelligent satire on celebrity we've been waiting for

The Afterparty is a blast: a pacy and amusing satire of celebrity shenanigans, wrapped in glittery postmodern sweetie-wrappers

Shockingly accomplished...what really sets the fresh style, biting satire and postmodern gymnastics ablaze is the brilliance of the writing

Wickedly fizzing dialogue... delightful prose

Intriguing first novel... The narrative voice floes with wit and vigour...his debut ties author and reader in engaging knots that echo the tangled webs connecting the gossipers and photographers and their privileged fodder

It's uncommonly well written, with a bountiful supply of manic energy... Would Paul Auster kill to write a book as playful, fast-paced and unashamedly populist as this? Doubtful, but somewhere there's a "Paul Auster" who might

Benedictus takes us on a trail of the contentious highs and lows of the rich and famous in a mixture of dark humour and sharp dialogue. For Benedictus, and his valiant debut novel, more of the same please

The story of the ultimate celeb after-party, it's a knowing wink at publishing and celebrity culture - a high-concept first novel sitting just the right side of salacious

The Afterparty avoids smugness partly because it has more affection that vitriol for the culture that it mocks... It's very funny, but sad, too... Well-drawn characters, smart dialogue and a canny plot

Literary agent Valerie Morrell receives an email from prospective author William Mendez, containing the first chapters of a promising new novel. Mendez's book tells the story of an April night, when a nervous, nerdy journalist takes his boss's invitation to an A-list party and meets a reclusive film star, his junkie supermodel wife and a wide-eyed pop singer. 
 
Valerie is hooked by the scandalous tale of decadence, drugs and disasters, but as the book unfolds, chapter by chapter, email by email, building to a terrible climax, a parallel story emerges - of an author with an unusual, almost unreal, desire for anonymity. Who is William Mendez? And whose tale is he really telling... 
 
WITH PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN MATERIAL FOR THE PAPERBACK 
 
LONGLISTED FOR THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE

Leo Benedictus

Praise for The Afterparty

This is the well-written, intelligent satire on celebrity we've been waiting for

Brilliant

Sardonic, sparkling, scathing

This is the well-written, intelligent satire on celebrity we've been waiting for

Brilliant

Sardonic, sparkling, scathing

This is the well-written, intelligent satire on celebrity we've been waiting for

Brilliant

Sardonic, sparkling, scathing

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