'We're So Famous' lacks real life feel

Any man who tries to demystify the female experience is either very brave, or very foolish. Sadly, the latter is the case in Jaimie Clarke's novel, "We're So Famous." In a tale of three young, star-struck women looking for fame, Clarke has a wonderful vehicle for exploring the feminine mind and a terrific chance to entertain his readers. Unfortunately, he does not rise to the challenge of cross-gender writing and in his attempts to tell a story from a woman's point of view, he fails miserably. \n"We're So Famous" is written in three parts and tells the story of Paque, Daisy, and Stella who dream of starting a band like their idols Bananarama, or becoming famous starlets in Hollywood. Each part of the story is told by a different character, but their narrative voices are so similar, they may as well be the same person. In fact, the experiences of making the same mistakes numerous times is so common throughout the book that the reader is left wondering why the writer even took the trouble to tell her story in the first place. \nDespite the characters' admirable, undying optimism, they never learn from their mistakes and are so lacking in dimension that one has to wonder just what Clarke is saying about the average woman. Can he truly not differentiate between one woman and another, or does it just seem that way because of his poor characterization skills. His literary women are so unvarying that it is only natural to ask if the writer has ever known a woman beyond a superficial sense. \nThis may be too harsh a judgment to pass on a man who has undertaken such a monumental task as writing from the point of view of someone so different from himself, but it does seem like Clarke could research his subject a little better. Upon reading this book, it seems the author cares more about showing off his knowledge of Hollywood pop culture than he does about developing three characters who have a great deal of potential as interesting and engaging personalities. The acknowledgements at the end of the book are actually a great deal more entertaining because he speaks to us in his own voice rather than that of a creation he can't identify with. In the future, Mr. Jaimie Clark would be well advised to stick to what he knows, and leave the feminist writing to the ladies.