Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Fascinating reading! It's kind of a hybrid between a personal memoir of the author's lifelong quest for fame and a more academic examination of the whole concept of fame (Who becomes famous? How long does fame last? Is fame a joy or a curse?) There is lots of interesting research cited, and the accompanying graphs and illustrations keep things light even in the face of pretty sophisticated study from, like, actual scientists. Interviews with various people along the fame spectrum also add a unique depth to the ideas considered.

The author' style is wry, breezy, and conversational, so this goes down very easy, even with some actual scientific weight behind it. This would make a wonderful airplane or vacation read and is a perfectly painless way to get a little smarter and get a little more perspective on the odd but inescapable phenomenon of celebrity. Fans of pop culture, media, performing arts, and memoirs should definitely pick this up!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

3.5 Stars

This book was an interesting concept, intertwining stories with research, all about fame and if it makes you happy. It was partly a memoir of his own experiences with fame and trying to be famous, and he interviewed other celebrities on the same topics. I learned a lot and it sparked deeper thinking for me. I do think there was so much cool research included.

It's hard for me to put into words what didn't work for me with this book, it was good but didn't hit 5 stars for me. I think parts of it were not cohesive because it was difficult going back and forth between the writing styles of facts, stories, and interviews. At some points I think I was just tired of reading so many chapters on such similar topics.

This book was trying very hard to be funny and cute and did not deliver, in my opinion.

The writing on this one just did not capture me at all. I was interested in the subject matter, but unfortunately not written by this author.

Okay book that got a bit better as it went on. I found the first chapter to be a bit discombobulated feeling. Like I was jumping into the middle of a chapter but I wasn’t.

I've read a previous book by the author (Why Don't We Hang Out Sometime) which is funny and really relatable. The book was integrated into a nonfiction unit for high school sophomores and is pretty popular.

This one is one that I think is going to be a great addition to that unit - who isn't just a little curious about the impact of fame? In the world where students live a good portion of their lives on the internet? This is a great book for them to read, which is again relatable and funny.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be famous, or in Josh Sundquist's case semi-famous. Or what the correlation between happiness and fame is? Who was the first famous person was and so much more? Well, you're in luck Semi-Famous: A True Story of Near Celebrity by Josh Sundquist will show. This book is full of diagrams, insights from celebrities, and personal stories from Josh.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I usually avoid nonfiction if I can, but this one piqued my interest. I'm glad I read it. This book is funny, interesting, and insightful. Josh knows how to make nonfiction fun. I loved everything from fun little diagrams to the conversations he had with celebrities. Plus this book is formatted in a unique way. It is formated as if it were a school day with different class periods teaching you all about fame. That may make you want to avoid it because who wants to go to school in a book? Well let me tell you, it makes the book even more interesting and fun. Some of the class periods include math, which talks about whether celebrities are really more likely to have addictions and how many celebrities people remember, and Biology, which talks about why celebrities date other celebrities and is there something in our biology that makes us want to become famous. There is even a lunch class period!

Overall this book is an interesting and funny read. Whether you like nonfiction or not, I think you will enjoy this one if you want to laugh and learn more about the world of fame.

Thank you Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review