Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Cause Celeb” as Want to Read:
Cause Celeb
by
Available for the first time in the United States, Cause Celeb is the hilarious debut novel by British literary sensation Helen Fielding. With the same wit and candor that shot
Bridget Jones's Diary
and
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
to the top of bestseller lists and forever altered the vocabulary of dating, Fielding executes a remarkable spoof on the altruisti
...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 342 pages
Published
February 26th 2002
by Penguin Group
(first published 1994)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Cause Celeb,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Cause Celeb
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Cause Celeb

Sometimes chic lit's all you need to get through your day. Tah-ruly.
With this novel I did not find what Bridget Jones brings to the table, nor what (the poor man's B Jones) Jemima J. experiences in the wacky world of Hollywood. I found something a bit more serious, some sad descriptions of a famished country in Africa (I keep reading about poor, poor Africa!!), a tint of pathos that both aforementioned heroines barely only hinted at. This one's combination comedy and tragedy... very well balance ...more
With this novel I did not find what Bridget Jones brings to the table, nor what (the poor man's B Jones) Jemima J. experiences in the wacky world of Hollywood. I found something a bit more serious, some sad descriptions of a famished country in Africa (I keep reading about poor, poor Africa!!), a tint of pathos that both aforementioned heroines barely only hinted at. This one's combination comedy and tragedy... very well balance ...more

I can't understand why this only averages a rating of 3! This is definitely very different from the Bridget Jones series, but the author's vivid descriptions of Africa alone made me want to jump on a plane. The scene where the massive wave of famine victims were cresting the hill will live in my mind for the rest of my life.
In Cause Celeb, a bunch of shallow actors were milking the media attention from a famine relief campaign but got the education of their lives when they were confronted with ...more
In Cause Celeb, a bunch of shallow actors were milking the media attention from a famine relief campaign but got the education of their lives when they were confronted with ...more

In "Cause Celeb" Fielding satirizes the pretentiousness of celebrities, the not-always pure motives of humanitarians, the poetical idiosyncrasies of Africans, the tangled and futile politics of foreign aid, and the stupidity of certain women when it comes to relationships.
I enjoy Fielding's novels even though I can never manage to relate to her female protagonists, who tend to be shallow women who lack self-respect, initially have bad taste in men, readily engage in casual sex, and play relatio ...more
I enjoy Fielding's novels even though I can never manage to relate to her female protagonists, who tend to be shallow women who lack self-respect, initially have bad taste in men, readily engage in casual sex, and play relatio ...more

It's not quite as funny as Bridget Jones, not quite as adventurous as Olivia Joules, but for me, Cause Celeb has more heart, and truth, than any other Fielding book. The comedy is strange and honest. I wonder if Lena Dunham of GIRLS fame has ever come across this book, because Rosie and Dunham's Hannah character are cut from the same cloth.
The story is funny, gut-wrenching, loving, and inspiring. Fielding does an excellent job of posing some pretty serious questions to the reader including, what ...more
The story is funny, gut-wrenching, loving, and inspiring. Fielding does an excellent job of posing some pretty serious questions to the reader including, what ...more

Written earlier than the Bridget Jones books, and much deeper. Not just an interminable diary about pounds lost and gained, drinks drunk, and fellows not won; Cause Celeb is about a Bridget-like woman who transcends all that, goes to Africa to work in a refuge camp as a 20th century woman's analog of the French Foreign Legion, and discovers how unnecessary and unmerited her previous obsessive insecurity was. A charming book. I don't know why this one wasn't made into Helen Fielding's first movie
...more

"Cause Celeb" was Helen Fielding's debut novel, in advance of her overwhelming success with "Bridget Jones's Diary" and its sequel. This book does not have the sparkle that the Bridget Jones twosome owns, but all the same elements are there and show the promise to come. The main character and narrator is Rosie Richardson, a literary publicist obviously chosen for her job because of her decorative function at literary events. She is not as shallow as her employer and celebrity friends believe, as
...more

Sep 11, 2008
_inbetween_
added it
Sticking with the Brits, this is Fielding's first novel. Bridget Jones meets Bob Geldof, half set in London with another pretty young woman thinking herself always too fat, loving an abusive asshole, drinking a lot and freaking out about make-up and stockings and shaving, the other half with her working as an aide in a refuge camp. Since Rosie is more intelligent and competent and assertive than Bridget, even though both are creatures of the publicity and media world, and since Fielding herself
...more

Reading this book is like sitting with your butt in the middle of two chairs.
I really like BJD 1 and 2 (yes, the second book too!) and i hated olivia joules. So when i picked this one out of my shelf, i had the intention to read it as fast as i could and to give it away to whoever would be kind enough to take it.
But i don't know anymore. Because even though reading about rich laughable people doing humanitarian work is not something that is entertaining to me, i still think this that this book ...more
I really like BJD 1 and 2 (yes, the second book too!) and i hated olivia joules. So when i picked this one out of my shelf, i had the intention to read it as fast as i could and to give it away to whoever would be kind enough to take it.
But i don't know anymore. Because even though reading about rich laughable people doing humanitarian work is not something that is entertaining to me, i still think this that this book ...more

This book is about Rosie, who, after finally breaking up with her emotionally abusive boyfriend, Oliver, goes to do relief work in Africa. Because the UN isn't sending needed supplies, the refugee camp is running out of food. Rosie has to return to London and try to get the celebrities she used to associate with to come to Africa and do a benefit.
What really kept me reading the book is that I really liked and empathised with Rosie. She seemed like a good person, and I could relate to her belief ...more
What really kept me reading the book is that I really liked and empathised with Rosie. She seemed like a good person, and I could relate to her belief ...more

This book is being passed around at work for obvious reasons (that it's about a woman working for a nonprofit agency who is trying to get celebrity support for a refugee camp in Northern Africa).
I thought this was interesting because instead of the protagonist working for a fashion magazine, she works in a refugee camp in Africa. As this is written by the author of Bridget Jones, perhaps this will get more people interested in supporting international causes, or at least aware of them. Maybe/ma ...more
I thought this was interesting because instead of the protagonist working for a fashion magazine, she works in a refugee camp in Africa. As this is written by the author of Bridget Jones, perhaps this will get more people interested in supporting international causes, or at least aware of them. Maybe/ma ...more

Okay, full disclosure, I did not finish this book. I picked it up thinking, "Hey, I wonder what Helen Fielding's writing is like when it's not BJ's Diary." To be honest, it's pretty darn good. I don't know if she's ever lived in Africa, but she really picked up on a lot of good detail. I stopped reading the book because it was breaking my heart. Too much human suffering for me to handle right now. Still too wound up from the whole Mommy hormone thing. I am impressed with HF's writing and will co
...more

Having read Bridget Jones & another novel of Fielding's I was excited to read Cause Celeb. From the very beginning I was disappointed. The lead character is not really developed & she makes choice that I cannot understand or respect. She ended up driving me nuts, as did almost every character in the book. The dialogue for certain characters, like Nadia & Andre, was very annoying & was hard to read smoothly. There is also very little humor or romance in this book. While you feel for the refugee s
...more

This book was not at all what I expected. When I picked up this Helen Fielding book at a used book sale, I figured I would be getting another semi-silly, light, romantic read from her, but it turned out to deal with much more heavy issues including famine and emotional abuse. It was well done for the most part and I enjoyed the book.

I wanted to like this book, it just didn't come together for me. It was not believable.
...more

"I wish we could call a grown-up." The words slipped out without me wanting them to, but for once they were the right thing to say.
"So do bloody I, I can tell you," said Debbie.
"Me too," said Henry.
"I am a grown-up, and I want my mother," said O'Rourke.
Other than the above line that made me laugh, this wasn't funny? I was very disappointed. Maybe it's just that I read it 20 years after it should have been read. ...more
"So do bloody I, I can tell you," said Debbie.
"Me too," said Henry.
"I am a grown-up, and I want my mother," said O'Rourke.
Other than the above line that made me laugh, this wasn't funny? I was very disappointed. Maybe it's just that I read it 20 years after it should have been read. ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

I really don't think this book deserves such a low rating. It's not at all what I expected when I picked it up and read the tag line, "from the author of Bridget Jones' Diary," but that's not something the book should be punished for.
Truly, the blending of genres within this book, the biting swing between satirical humor and a no holds bar look at the world's inequality, is masterfully done. It's jarring because it's supposed to be jarring. One second you're laughing about pompous celebrities a ...more
Truly, the blending of genres within this book, the biting swing between satirical humor and a no holds bar look at the world's inequality, is masterfully done. It's jarring because it's supposed to be jarring. One second you're laughing about pompous celebrities a ...more

After working as a literary publicist in London and dating a famous television personality, Rosie Richardson decides she is sick of the glitz and glamour and superficial people. She uproots her life and moves to Africa where she runs a refugee camp. With a massive food shortage and more and more refugees entering the camp, Rosie returns back to the celebrity community for help. This is the debut novel of Helen Fielding, author of the Bridget Jones series.
I so wanted to like this book but I just ...more
I so wanted to like this book but I just ...more

What a strange book. On the one hand it's a pure chick-lit story about a naive woman in a sort-of relationship with a narcissist celeb, on the other hand it's a description of the hardships in an African refugee camp. The two are woven together, at first with flashbacks and in the end the storylines merge. It makes for an awkward book to be honest, I didn't know what to make of it. I'm sure this juxtaposition was intentional, but the chick-lit part got on my nerves, and it's never fun to wade th
...more

The author of Bridget Jones's Diary started her writing career with this unusual story that mixes light-hearted romantic entanglements with a serious story about displaced people in an impoverished nation.
Rosie Richardson, in an almost unbelievable transformation from puffette (a publicist in a publishing company) to running a refugee camp in Africa entertains with her honest voice. First enthralled with her TV presenter boyfriend and then disillusioned with his unpredictable cruelty she runs aw ...more
Rosie Richardson, in an almost unbelievable transformation from puffette (a publicist in a publishing company) to running a refugee camp in Africa entertains with her honest voice. First enthralled with her TV presenter boyfriend and then disillusioned with his unpredictable cruelty she runs aw ...more

I was not expecting a compelling novel about African famines to have any humor whatsoever. But, like M.A.S.H., this novel originates in a place of truth. Fielding's own journalistic and producing experiences with Comic Relief in the '80s formed a strong foundation of in-depth, accurate information in this novel. This is a powerful book--Rosey begins her career as director of an aid camp primarily to get away from a lousy boyfriend, but the romantic escapades take a backseat to the character's gr
...more

Rosie Richardson isn't Bridget Jones, but I did like her in spite of her highly improbable adventures in the world of the rich and famous and then in a fictitious African country on the verge of collapse due to starvation. It skewers the media world with its insatiable appetite for intensity and excitement, at any cost, and the cluelessness of people in the "developed" world (and not just the 1%). Good story.
...more

I seriously didn't like any of the characters in this book. It was so hard to get through. It just didn't have any elements of true entertainment where I was really interested or wanted to know what happened in the end.
...more

If I'm reading chick lit I want chick lit. The author tried to put in way too much emotion for what was really a love story in the end. Also lots of characters that just didn't matter and never got developed.
...more

I loved this book. It's been sitting on my book shelves for probably close to ten years and I finally read it. I'm glad that I did.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Helen Fielding was born in Yorkshire. She worked for many years in London as a newspaper and TV journalist, travelling as wildly and as often as possibly to Africa, India and Central America. She is the author of four novels: Cause Celeb, Bridget Jones’ s Diary, Bridget Jones:The Edge of Reason and Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination, and co-wrote the screenplays for the movie of Bridget
...more
Related Articles
Sally Thorne, author of The Hating Game and 99 Percent Mine, explores what it means to take risks for love, and for yourself, in her newest...
113 likes · 11 comments
6 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“If you ask where a relationship is going too often the question has a habit of turning into where the relationship went. Unfortunately, however, God has given women an inbuilt irresistible urge to insist on knowing where their relationships are going, and to force their partners to discuss the matter at length whenever they are late for something.”
—
16 likes
“It occurred to me that if Africa needed us, sometimes we needed Africa a great deal more.”
—
12 likes
More quotes…