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A wild romp through Australian celebrity culture that's as bold and scathing as it is hilarious.
Everything in this world has a price. A great work of art is no exception. And what fortune was ever built without a little subterfuge?
Oli Darling is a queer artist from the country – it says so right at the top of every press release. His art has brought him fame, money, fashionable substance abuse issues and only a little imposter syndrome. But then he goes on live TV and says the one thing that can get a rich white guy cancelled.
With his reputation in tatters, nobody is buying Oli’s schtick or his art. That’s a problem for all the people who’ve invested millions in him. Powerful, dangerous people. To save his own skin, Oli will need to restore his public image. Together with a ghostwriter, he must do the most undignified thing imaginable: he will have to write a memoir.
So begins a journey through the underbelly of modern celebrity that sees Oli confront the consequences of his own ruthless mythmaking – lies he’s told others, lies he’s told himself. Perhaps he was right to feel like an imposter. And maybe the only way out is to take a good hard look at himself.
Outrageous satire of the highest order, Appreciation sets its sights on the question of authenticity in a time where image trumps talent, narcissism rules, and no canvas is so tarnished it can’t be painted over.
Author: Liam Pieper
Paperback Published 5 March 2024 368 pages
Read and Recommended by Graeme:
"This novel is a very entertaining and witty satire on the art world, although the publishing industry and the perils of celebrity also get a skewering. Acclaimed queer artist Oli Darling finds himself cancelled - his career and reputation destroyed after he says the wrong thing on national television. Admittedly he was somewhat high at the time, but that is not much of a defence! However, his manager has a plan to resurrect his reputation - write a memoir with the help of a ghost writer and go on a speaking tour of regional schools. As Oli’s story unfolds we learn of his upbringing on a farm, work to which he was profoundly unsuited. However, a touching teen romance that develops with a neighbouring boy offers some solace from the horrors of killing livestock! The characterisation is superb, sometimes heightened for comedy, and a few of the secondary characters almost threaten to eclipse the main characters such as the extremely wealthy art collector known simply as ‘The Money’. The plotting is also extremely deft and towards the climax of the book we learn how Oli’s fame as an artist was constructed and it is thoroughly ingenious. In short Appreciation is an absolute page-turner - extremely well written, cleverly constructed and distinguished by some very witty and astute dialogue. Recommended!"