Appreciation - Liam Pieper

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.


'Made me laugh gleefully, and also made me squirm. Pieper's pen is a sharply honed blade - there's a hell of a lot of truth in this deceptively jaunty satire. I gulped it down.' Christos Tsiolkas
'A clever, wry and utterly hilarious impaling of Australian culture. A worthy successor to Oscar Wilde.' Kris Kneen
'Smart and daring, witty and incisive. A work of genius.' Jessie Stephens
'A deft skewering of contemporary values - as hugely entertaining as it is piercingly relevant.' Nick Earls


'Hugely memorable.' Hannah Kent
'Bold and compelling.' Peter Pierce, Weekend Australian


'Crackling with a tension that doesn't let up.' Jay Daniel Thompson, Australian Book Review
'A high-stakes, self-aware literary thriller.' Elke Power, Readings