Tuesday, June 05, 2018

Five top books about fandoms & fan culture

Britta Lundin is a TV writer, novelist, and comic book writer. Her New young adult novel is Ship It. At Tor.com she tagged five top books about fandoms and fan culture, including:
Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff

Real Person Fiction (RPF) / Bandfic

Grace and the Fever follows teenager Grace, who is deep in the fandom for boyband Fever Dream, which has long been deemed uncool by her nonfandom (read: civilian) friends. In a fantasy-like coincidence, Grace accidentally meets the lead singer one day and gets swept up in his world of celebrity and backstage drama, all while trying to reconcile her current unbelievable level of access to her favorite band with her inner fangirl who is freaking the hell out.

Beautifully written, Grace and the Fever brilliantly weaves together the RPF self-insert fantasy of suddenly finding yourself friends with the people you’ve been fanning over for years with the real-world truths of how hard it is being in the spotlight. Like Almost Famous for the boyband set, it’s a fun and emotional peek behind the curtain of music celebrity. It’s also generous about fandom while still being clear-eyed about the ways fans can overreach or cross the line. Romanoff is clearly working from a personal and intimate knowledge of fandom, which makes it an authentic and loving portrait of the community.
Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: Grace and the Fever.

--Marshal Zeringue