About the Book:

A wild romp through Australian celebrity culture that’s as bold and scathing as it is hilarious.

Oli Darling is a queer artist from the country – it says so right at the top of every press release. His art has brought him fame, money, fashionable substance abuse issues and only a little imposter syndrome. But then he goes on live TV and says the one thing that can get a rich white guy cancelled.

With his reputation in tatters, nobody is buying Oli’s schtick or his art. That’s a problem for all the people who’ve invested millions in him. Powerful, dangerous people. To save his own skin, Oli will need to restore his public image. Together with a ghostwriter, he must do the most undignified thing imaginable: he will have to write a memoir.

So begins a journey through the underbelly of modern celebrity that sees Oli confront the consequences of his own ruthless mythmaking – lies he’s told others, lies he’s told himself. Perhaps he was right to feel like an imposter. And maybe the only way out is to take a good hard look at himself.

Outrageous satire of the highest order, Appreciation sets its sights on the question of authenticity in a time where image trumps talent, narcissism rules, and no canvas is so tarnished it can’t be painted over.

Published by Penguin

Released March 2024

My Thoughts:

I’ve really dithered over writing this review, unable to find the words to coherently review Appreciation instead of just gush about it. I absolutely loved this novel; it was sharply funny and smartly satirical. It was our book club pick for March – my selection – and overall, everyone enjoyed it.

It’s one of those novels that would translate very well to the screen. Liam Pieper is a force that knows no comparison. His writing just doesn’t miss a beat and is so clever in terms of the way he unfolds his story in both the immediate and the long game. There is just so much in this novel to enjoy, to grimace over, to nod about, to make you discomfited, and to give you cause to just laugh out loud and shake your head about.

‘Pushing forty now, Oli feels about young people the same way he does about modern cinema: wonderfully entertaining, but everything takes an hour and a half longer than it needs to.’

So good. One of my top reads of the year so far.