A terrific debut: fresh, original, and surprising. Eleven fast, sharp, funny stories laced with a deep understanding of the corrosive effect our fame-hungry attention economy has on real connection between people. Rende is such a witty, engaging writer, with an intuitive understanding that the short story is in the world to delight, engage, and enlarge the reader * George Saunders * Rende's sparky stories are graced with comic timing and a surprisingly sweet, mordantly sympathetic attitude to her reckless characters... her audacious take on this world has insider insight * Daily Mail * Darkly funny and emotionally searching . . . Throughout, Rende demonstrates a fond regard for her characters, despite their dubious choices. Readers won't be able to help cheering them on * Publishers Weekly * A startling debut... darkly funny... entertaining and readable stories offering a unique view into this moment of the Anthropocene * Kirkus, starred review * Sydney Rende's debut collection spoke to me from the first line, where a receptionist cold-messages a celebrity to say they'd be a "good match"... I Could Be Famous is sharp, darkly funny, and, in the words of the reality TV star from my favourite story, "very anthropological" * Anna Dorn, author of Perfume and Pain * Shot through with a crystalline wit and mordant surprise, I Could Be Famous is outstanding... the characters at once shocked and delighted me. With the same insatiable desire that animates Rende's prose, I devoured these stories * Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, author of Every Drop Is a Man's Nightmare * Rende has a knack for conveying ribald humor . . . The dialogue is snappy and propulsive and these stories have a fluidity and contemporary quality, a fleetingness characteristic of our time . . . Although this collection is centered on women of a certain age, the arc of Arlo Banks, swinging from teen heartthrob to post-fame confusion and loneliness, provides a thematic impetus. The desire to be seen and recognized all too often comes with a cost * California Review of Books * Sydney Rende's funny, sweet, stinging voice is made for this moment, and for those coming of age within it. An important debut and an invaluable tip-sheet to the way we live now, I Could Be Famous captures perfectly the hazards of young womanhood in a world where everyone is desperate to be looked at, but wary of being seen * Jonathan Dee, author of The Privileges * Sydney Rende's genius for the absurd is underpinned by her great comic timing. Even in her characters' darkest moments, salvation is found through an ever-present wit. Her sharply funny and fearless stories deftly satirize our too online, celebrity-obsessed cultural abyss. And if you cock your head and look closely, there is something so tender (and lonely) at the heart of them. I Could Be Famous is a wonderful debut * Dana Spiotta, author of Wayward * I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much. Sydney Rende is a fearless, original writer with a crushing wit. I Could Be Famous shines a scathing light into the battleground of young, beautiful, ambitious, women, their impulses often unchecked, as they teeter around celebrity. If you don't understand modern relationships, reality TV, or internet porn relations, you will by this book's end. And you'll laugh the whole way there * Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane * The stories are easy in all the right ways - easy to laugh, easy to love, easy to want to re-read - and challenging in all the right ways. Rende writes about women in such a smart way, allowing their strengths and flaws to shine equally * Debutiful * Fame, or an obsession with it, defines Rende's first book, a collection of 11 funny-sad, celebrity-informed, and overall entertaining stories of people trying to find fulfillment where it may not exist . . . While Rende's title could be true of all of us, it especially applies to her characters, who will easily slide into readers' minds and stay there * Booklist * A witty and pointed reflection on ambition, disappointment, and our obsession with fame * Alta Journal * Eleven related stories muse on the nature of love and fame by deconstructing the nature of the attention economy, social media feeds, longing, and parasocial relationships between young women fans and celebrities. There's dark humour, fresh insight, poignancy, and characters like a former child actor and a reality star who joins a dating app * Zoomer Magazine * The stories feature characters fumbling for real life amid porn and reality TV, and a prose register that includes both pathos and satire. What's not to like? * Boston Globe * Sydney Rende's debut shines a light on what we're all most concerned about these days: how we're perceived... Rende's short stories are brilliant, and convince readers that, with enough confidence (or potentially lack thereof) and delusion, that we all, one day, could be famous * Vogue, Best Books of the Year *
