Plastic Fantastic (review)

To say that Dominic's favorite band is Plastic is an understatement—when not busy collecting all of their recordings, he combs magazines and the Internet for any piece of trivia about the band members, particularly the lead singer, Lisa Voyd. His friends join in the obsessive fun, except for Emma, who prefers classical music and thinks Dominic is wasting his time. Then, at a record signing, Dominic surreptitiously follows Lisa into an elevator, only to get trapped between floors with her; with nothing to do for several hours but chat with his idol, Dominic soon learns that pop stardom isn't all it's cracked up to be. Meanwhile, Lisa suggests that Dominic not only get a life but that he start picking up on the hints (romantic and otherwise) that Emma has been dropping. While this British import's portrayal of fandom gets many things right, Dominic's acute self-awareness of its vicarious pleasures interrupts the breathless fun just long enough to dampen it; a heavy reliance on ironies such as the superficiality of his devotion to a band named Plastic do not quite achieve their intended depth. Lisa's ultimate decision to abandon Plastic and the headaches of fame will not surprise anyone; however, the conversation with her superfan prompting the decision moves realistically from nervous banter to an intensity borne of enforced intimacy, employing dialogue equal parts clever and heartfelt. While lengthy detours into flashback interrupt the pacing of the more successful Dominic/Lisa interaction, readers fascinated by the philosophical implications of fandom and stardom will probably forgive the digressions.