In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Hannah Beer’s novel I Make My Own Fun is darkly humorous and exceedingly clever, and possibly the year’s most entertaining debut.
The Independent wrote of the book:
“A riotous dissection of celebrity culture.”
In her own words, here is Hannah Beer’s Book Notes music playlist for her debut novel I Make My Own Fun:
I don’t have many rituals when it comes to writing. There’s no real rhyme or reason to when I write best – sometimes it comes easiest first thing in the morning, others I don’t get a word down until 3pm, others still I’m furiously typing well into the small hours. Often, I like to light a candle and make myself a cup of tea, but sometimes I don’t do either of those things and the work doesn’t seem to suffer for it. The only thing I’m truly precious about is my playlist. Making a playlist that feels like the book I’m writing is the very first thing I do – even before I’ve started writing the book itself. Getting the playlist right opens the world I’m writing about up to me, and so it’s as much a part of the worldbuilding as sketching out a character or figuring out what the hell happens in act three. Pressing play on it as I sit down at my desk to write is just about the only consistent part of my routine.
My debut novel I Make My Own Fun is a satirical thriller about celebrity culture, gossip, and obsession. My narrator, Marina, is a stratospherically famous woman with a flawless reputation who is a complete monster behind closed doors. When she meets Anna, a bartender who seems to be the only person in the world who doesn’t want her, she falls into a deep and dangerous obsession trying and failing to win her over (it’s sort of like if American Psycho and Notting Hill had a strange little baby).
The playlist I actually made for the book is four and half hours long, but below I’ve selected twelve songs that give a spoiler-less flavour of the book (and, of course, the rest of the playlist).
Stream the playlist at Spotify
Alien Superstar, Beyoncé
“I’m one of one. I’m number one. The only one.” I Make My Own Fun is primarily written in first-person, from Marina’s point of view, and she really does have an unfailing sense of her own brilliance. Listening to Alien Superstar is the sonic equivalent of giving yourself a pep talk in the mirror anyway, but I found it was the perfect song to put on to get into Marina’s mindset at the beginning of the novel.
Celebrity Skin, Hole
Is there any better commentary on Hollywood and its treatment of women than a seething Courtney Love song? Although Marina would never admit it to herself, she is not immune to the fickle cruelties of fame and the entertainment industry’s obsession with youth. She has also paid a high price in exchange for her fame, although she doesn’t see it that way. This song says it all and then some: “She’s full of poison, obliterated everything she kissed. Now she’s fading somewhere in Hollywood. I’m glad I came here with my pound of flesh.” Chills, Courtney! Chills.
XS, Rina Sawayama
This was one of the first songs I added to my playlist. The mindless, excessive consumption of the mega-wealthy that Rina satirises in this song was a huge jumping off point for me with this novel. The first question I set out to answer when writing it was: when you have everything already, what else – or who else – is there to strive for? Or, in Rina’s words: “when the heart wants what it wants, what can I do? So I’ll take that one, that one, yeah, that one too”. This song is also kind of thrillingly chaotic – part metal, part sugary pop – and that’s exactly how I wanted the book to feel, like you don’t quite know which way it’s going to go.
Brand New Bitch, COBRAH
I wanted the book to feel pacey and fun to read, like it moves a mile a minute along with its narrator. For that, I needed lots of songs like this: with a driving beat that it would feel great to dance to in a sweaty basement. Most of them, like this song, have lyrics about looking hot, feeling good and wearing designer clothes (a perfect subsection of pop in my opinion, and I have had many excellent nights in sweaty basements dancing to COBRAH’s music).
A Woman is a God, Tommy Genesis
Another song with an excellent beat, this song sits in my “Marina meets Anna” section of the playlist. At the novel’s opening, Marina is bored by Henry, the man who everyone believes to be her long-term partner. In fact, Marina is bored by most people, but something about Anna captures her imagination, and suddenly Marina feels she might have found something that could actually sustain her attention. “If a man is a man, then a woman is a god” is a pretty accurate description of how she feels in that moment.
Paparazzi, Lady Gaga
How could I make a playlist about the art of celebrity and not include Lady Gaga? Gaga has been a chronicler of fame since before anyone even knew her name (she said it herself way back in 2010: “I’ve always been famous, you just didn’t know it.”) I remember hearing this song on the radio for the first time as a teenager – by which point the tabloids and gossip blogs were already overflowing with pictures of Lady Gaga in towering heels and outlandish hairstyles – and thinking how interesting it was that this very famous woman was singing about being someone else’s biggest fan. In that way, I owe the whole book to this song. And I mean, “I’ll follow you until you love me”… sounds ominous out of context, doesn’t it?
Welcome to my Island, Caroline Polachek (George Daniel and Charli XCX remix)
Brat summer was but a glimmer in Charli XCX’s eye when I was writing this book, but the good thing about Charli is that she has been making propulsive, genre-bending music about love and fame for a long time. As such, there’s a fair bit of her on my longer playlist, but if I had to choose one, this would be it: from Caroline’s opening yodel to Charli’s glittering, flirty lyrics and its deliciously speedy beat, it really represents that manic, jubilant feeling of falling in lust with someone.
Flesh without Blood, Grimes
Are you sensing a running theme with this playlist? If you’re looking for music to relax to, I suggest you go elsewhere. I remember being so excited the first time I heard this track. It’s a careening, freewheeling song, with lyrics that feel completely, diametrically opposed to the upbeat melody and Grimes’ saccharine voice. Marina doesn’t allow much room for Anna’s feelings, but lyrically, this song is what I imagine Anna feels about Marina: “after all, I just don’t like you.”
Standing in the Way of Control, Gossip
“You’re forgetting who you are”. Standing in the Way of Control is another sonic pep talk – it’s the song that plays in the movie when the main character is on the brink of giving up, or when the heroes are gearing up to fight the evil overlords. It’s a rousing fight song, and it definitely was not written for someone as diabolical as Marina, but there is a ruthless determination that I found especially useful to dial into as Marina sinks further in her fixation on Anna.
Bitch Better Have My Money, Rihanna
Even if the song sucked, this one would be on here for the music video alone. Rihanna as a vengeful, impeccably dressed, wealthy woman with a murderous streak? Straight to the mood board! Luckily, the song is great too, and the lyrics “don’t act like you forgot, I call the shots” might as well be tattooed on Marina’s forehead.
Caesar on a TV Screen, The Last Dinner Party
This song is majestic, sweeping, dramatic: a perfect meditation on the pursuit of fame. “just for a second, I could be one of the greats. I’ll be Caesar on a TV screen, champion of my fate. No one can tell me to stop, I’ll have everything I want.” It’s got a swaggering unhinged quality that perfectly encapsulates Marina as the book races towards its end.
I Did Something Bad, Taylor Swift
If I wasn’t a Reputation girl before I started writing this book, I certainly was by the time I handed in my copyedits. I can’t count the number of times I listened to this entire album when I was in the throes of writing I Make My Own Fun (in fact, I’m pretty sure this song in particular was in my Spotify Wrapped the year I finished the first draft). There is something so compelling about Taylor leaning full tilt into her (then) position as persona non grata in this song. I love the evil little way she sings “most fun I’ve ever had, and I’d do it over and over again if I could”, which is the maxim by which Marina lives her life – have fun at all costs, regardless of the consequences.
Hannah Beer is a writer from North West England. She lives in London and works in communications. A reformed fangirl, she has an encyclopedic knowledge of celebrity culture that she writes about in her newsletter Emotional Speculation. When not working or writing, she enjoys reading, going to gigs, and cooking elaborate meals for her friends.