Sellevision: A Novel | 
| Author: Augusten Burroughs
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
New (44) Used (59) Collectible (3) from $2.64
Avg. Customer Rating:  136 reviews
Sales Rank: 6137
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0312422288
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780312422288
Publication Date: June 1, 2003
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Amazon.com Review
Light and funny, with a bitter aftertaste, the action of Sellevision takes place behind the scenes (and on the set) of a successful television shopping network, where a feminine role model, Peggy Jean Smythe, the married, Christian mother of three, begins receiving suspicious e-mail from a viewer who insists that Peggy's hairy earlobe is obscuring her presentation of jewelry during the broadcast. When Peggy fails to respond to the e-mail, but silently waxes her lobe, the cruel notes escalate, until Peggy believes herself to be suffering from a hormonal crisis that has given her a mustache, a gruff voice, and the manner of a lumberjack. Meanwhile, one of her cohosts, Max Andrews, has been fired for accidentally exposing himself during a children's special, and learns just how undesirable a commodity a penis-baring ex-Sellevision host can be on the job market. The book is an unusually smooth read for a first novel, with six or seven truly inspired lines. --Regina Marler
Product Description
Darkly funny and gleefully mean-spirited, Sellevision explores greed, obsession and third tier celebrity, in the world of a fictional home shopping network.
Welcome to the troubled world of Sellevision, America’s premier retail broadcasting network. When Max Andrews, the much-loved and handsome (lonely and gay) host of “Slumber Sunday Sundown” accidentally exposes himself in front of twenty million kids and their parents during a “Toys for Tots” segment, Sellevision faces its first big scandal. As Max fails to find a job in television, another host, the popular and perky Peggy Jean Smythe is receiving sinister emails about her appearance from a stalker. Popping pills and drinking heavily, she fails to notice that her husband is spending a lot of time with the very young babysitter who lives next door. Then there’s Leigh, whose affair with Sellevision boss Howard Toast is going nowhere, until she exposes him on air; and Bebe, Sellevision’s star host, who finds Mr. Right through the Internet--if she can just stop her shopping addiction from taking over.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 131 more reviews...
 Another Great Showing From Burroughs October 20, 2008
Sellevision was recommended to me by a friend, who suggested the book because I love the writing of Max Barry (of Company and Syrup fame). It turned out to be a great match.
Sellevision is a hilarious book -- simultaneously dark humored and lighthearted. It follows the lives of four hosts on the Sellevision network, a home shopping network. It might sound a little boring, but in the course of a year there is incest, genitals on live television, a nervous breakdown, a dead rat, and copious amounts of alcohol.
Good first try October 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I didn't know that Augusten Burroughs had written a novel, so when he mentioned in his memoir Possible Side Effects that his first novel Sellevision is about a host of a home shopping channel whose penis slipped out while on the air, I knew that I'd be reading it.
Burroughs is the author of four best selling memoirs, the most famous being Running With Scissors, which has also been made into a movie. According to Burroughs's official website, Sellevision is in production to be made into a movie as well, and is scheduled to begin shooting in November of 2008. In his memoirs Burroughs has running themes, the main ones being: his weird family upbringing, his battle with alcoholism, and his relationship status as a gay man.
Sellevision is an account of the gradual destruction of a home shopping channel. The book has an ensemble of characters which is the books strongest and weakest points. The book starts with the aforementioned flashing, which leads to the mainest of main characters, Max, finding out that such a gaffe makes finding further employment almost impossible. Peggy Jean, a fundamentalist Christian who sells such trinkets as crucifix cufflinks and star of David money clips, starts drinking and pill popping when a stalker will not stop sending her e-mails that point out her unwanted body hair and other bodily flaws. Bebe is a forty-two year old shopping addict and star of Sellevision. These are the main characters of the book. Unfortunately, nobody told Burroughs.
For so small a book (229 pages with big font) there are too many characters. It was only towards about page 180 that I figured out that Trish and Leigh were two different people. I had somehow combined them into one super character in my head until that point. I'm sure that this specific problem didn't occur for many, but it is just an example of how confusing it can be to introduce six main characters within a span of 50 pages. The big characters were Max, Peggy Jean, and Bebe. He should've either stuck with them or made this a 350 page book.
Another drawback of the book is that it took too long for the action to start. There were too many references to the Selevision inventory and inner workings. I understand that he was trying to be detailed and draw us into the "world of home shopping", but instead it just made the pace drag. Once he cut the rate of the references down about a quarter of the way through the book, it was a lot more enjoyable. If Burroughs had written this way throughout the whole book, it would have flowed much better. The meat of the story was the characters and once he focused more on them, it got really good.
I don't want to be overly critical of the book, because it was a really enjoyable read. Burroughs was funny as ever, but it just seemed pretty obvious that this was his first try at a novel because of the structural flaws. I hope he gives fiction another try.
 Terrible July 28, 2008
This is the first book I've read by Augusten Burroughs and honestly, I can't believe I read it through the end. The plot is formulaic and implausible and the characters are one-dimensional. Now, I understand that this book is "comedy" and because of that, doesn't have the same conventions of a regular novel. But unfortunately, the humor smacks of lazy writing and lack of imagination. In short, it's just plain bad, bad, bad.
The only people I imagine finding this funny are people who think Jay Leno's monologues are a hoot. If you appreciate good comedy, pass by this one and thank me later.
 Would have made a better script June 30, 2008
I like this author, and the book has a great premise. Unfortunately, I don't think the author cared enough about them to ever bring them to life. The situations in this book are quite hilarious -- and they would work really well as a popcorn movie. It's just not a book.
Sellevision June 4, 2008
Sellevision, By Augusten Borroughs, is sadly dissapointing. It is predictible and childish. By neglecting to develop some of the characters the depth of the main character is limited. This is the story of Peggy Jean, the second leading host on the home shopping network, Sellevision. Peggy Jean is plagued by a stalker, and then devoleps a drug addiction. Lame. Another character, Max, has an embarrassing moment reminiscent of that is broadcast live on national television and is forced to leave his job at Sellevision. To handle Max's struggle to get a new job, Burroughs resorts to a gay cliche in a plot riddled with Cliches. turns to gay porn. Another character, Leigh, has an affair with the boss at Sellevision, and struggles to obtain his love. Bebe, the lead host on Sellevision, is very lonely, and channels this abandonment through shopping. She starts to go on a wide array of dates through the internet.
The thing that really bothered me in Sellevision, is that, the gay man conquered the least. In most books I read, the homosexual man is put down. I thought this would be different from a gay author. I know the world can be more difficult for gay men, but I thought that possibly, for once, the gay man would triumph. All the characters in the book make great accomplishments, While Max struggles to keep hold of his life.
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