I am fascinated by many dead celebrities. I eat up just about anything to do with Marilyn Monroe, Gia Carangi, Judy Garland, Lucile Ball, etc. However, unlike Hilda (the main character) its not how they died and where and such that fascinates me, its their lives. But, still I found myself identifying with Hilda in a way that I haven't with a character in a long time. Death scares the living shit out of me, it still does, but oddly, this book made it somewhat less scary. Or perhaps I can just acknowledge it better now? I dunno. I loved all of the information about the celebrities the author managed to put in, and I loved Hilda. I also found Hank to be very refreshing. When you find out about his past, its nice to know that it isn't just black and white. What he said and did made much more sense. In the end, this is a nice little story that I was glad to have spent a few days with.

Edit 4/22/12* Re-reading, still liked it just as much the second time around. ( )

I loved the premise of John Belushi is Dead. As someone who is also very interested in the weird and horrifying stories of Hollywood's decadent dead I could relate to the main character and her feelings of fascination and repulsion. The book has great tidbits of information about Hollywood murder and suicides and those parts are really well done. The larger plot lines aren't so well done. I understand there needed to be a bigger story beyond the main character and her friend going around Hollywood gawking at murder sites, but the plot lines involving both the old man she befriends and the boyfriend she makes don't pay out. Both start out promising, hinting at stories untold which could tie into the bigger plot of the Hollywood murders and suicides but they fizzle unsatisfyingly at the end. The end wraps it all up too neatly and left me feeling like it all could have been done much better. ( )

Wow. I absolutely fell in love with this book! I can't wait to see what Kathy Charles does next! :) Amazing. ( )

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

I'm usually a big fan of the surprisingly intelligent MTV Books; but while this latest is I suppose okay for what it is (a simplistic coming-of-age tale about two teens in Los Angeles obsessed with dead celebrities, and the trouble this gets them into one summer), the actual quality of the writing is much more on par with Young Adult than Actual Adult, a kind of clunkiness to it all that's very obviously designed so to not go over the heads of fourteen-year-olds. That's of course not bad if you're fourteen, which is why the book is getting as high a score today as it is; but if you're a grown-up, you'd be wise to skip this teen novel altogether, and shame on MTV Books for not making this clearer on the cover. Bait and switch is always an ugly thing, but especially in the publishing industry.

Out of 10: 7.2 ( )

Hilda and Benji are adolescent oddities, friends with an obsession with dead Hollywood celebrities. They spend most of their time together, visiting infamous sites related to celebrity deaths, and collecting “souvenirs” from their expeditions.

Then Hilda strikes up an unlikely friendship with Hank, a paranoid old man living by himself in an apartment where a celebrity had apparently killed himself. Her new friendship with Hank affects her friendship with Benji, and then when Hilda meets Jake, Hank’s downstairs neighbor, she is forced to question everything she thought she knew about people and herself.

MTV Books publishes this Australian import in the US—and boy, should we be grateful for it. JOHN BELUSHI IS DEAD packs an emotional punch through tight narration and a thoughtful presentation of difficult issues.

Perhaps we may not share Hilda’s fascination with dead celebrities, but we can easily relate to her struggles to find her place in the world, from her changing relationship with Benji, to her new friendships with Hank and then Jake. She’s a quiet protagonist, but that doesn’t mean she lacks personality. Like most of us reading this book, Hilda recognizes the strange compulsion of her interest, but also knows that it’s possible to take her interest too far.

The details regarding the dead celebrities feel authentic. In fact, I feel like the entire book, while having an unusual premise, just feels authentic to the teenage experience. It deals with some pretty scary issues—like when does a friendship go too far—but doesn’t do it halfway.

JOHN BELUSHI IS DEAD is a must-read for fans of “edgy” contemporary YA books similar to Stephanie Kuehnert’s. Pick this book up to be immersed in a world you thought you knew. ( )