Our contributing writer, Royal Young, got the good news the other day that his memoir is going to be published. Heliotrope Books will be coming out with “Fame Shark” in June of next year. The book tells the story of Royal’s obsession (followed by disillusionment) with celebrity, his battles with alcohol and his parents and his offbeat upbringing on the Lower East Side.
A lengthy profile in The Observer a couple of years ago carried the headline, “Attention Must Be Paid… One way or another the youthful memoirist… will enter your consciousness.”  From time to time, Royal has invited guests to his boyhood home on Eldridge Street, for readings from “Fame Shark.”  His upbringing in this neighborhood in the early 90’s, just before gentrification took hold, is a major subtext in all of Royal’s writings.
Naomi Rosenblatt, the cretaive director at Heliitrope Books, said she decided to publish “Fame Shark” because “the writing is really funny” and because (due to its setting) the memoir speaks to the modern day Jewish experience. But more fundamentally, she told us, Royal offers a fresh perspective on the pursuit of fame, a predicament thoroughly articulated from a female point-of-view but rarely explored by male authors.
Congratulations, Royal! We can’t wait to read the book!
Royal Young has an interesting, edgy voice. I’m looking forward to reading his book, Fame Shark, and learning more about the Lower East Side that was.