Review: My 15 Minutes

My 15 Minutes
by Sarah Faith Alterman
Published September 2005
3/5 stars

A lot of glamour lit type of books lately have been about the main character getting famous in some way. My 15 Minutes by Sara Faith Alterman is no exception.

Meet Julie Jorlamo. She is single and lives and works as a waitress in Los Angeles. Her life could be summed up as “generally normal” until she discovers quite by accident that Chad Downing, famous actor, lives in her building. But why would anyone famous live in her somewhat run-down building? She has little time to find out before accidentally getting caught up in his life. After a night spent throwing back one too many drinks, she is hungover and bleary and manages to lose her dog Riley. He turns up in Chad’s apartment, of all places.

Julie is photographed leaving his apartment that morning, still in her pajamas and mussed up, and suddenly everyone thinks she is Chad’s girlfriend. Chad’s weasel of an agent persuades them both to go along with it, stating it will be good for Chad’s image to be seen with a “normal girl who actually eats”. Julie is suddenly caught up in whirlwind parties, limo rides, and more.

What more could a girl want? Well, plenty, in this case. Julie puts up with Chad’s rudeness and snobbery, his agent’s hideous ways, and being run over at work by her jealous coworkers time and time again. Plus, she is a size 12 – just how far can she go in Hollywood as a size 12? (Gasp). Will Julie get fed up with Chad’s agent calling her “Plumpkin”? Will she manage to find herself in this star-studded mess?

My 15 Minutes started out very promisingly. It was hilarious, light and highly readable. I enjoyed it immensely until it became clear that Julie as a character, while interesting, was too much of a doormat. She let everyone run over her and treat her like garbage. There is only so much of that kind of stuff that I personally can deal with in a novel before literally wanting to clock the main character.

The story is very fast-paced and fun, and I managed to finish it within a couple of hours. It was definitely an enjoyable read, but would have been a lot more fun with a character with more of a backbone.

Overall, however, I would recommend this to chick lit fans who like a light, funny and glamourous read.

reviewed by Rian Montgomery

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