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Sex, Lies, Murder, Fame - Book Review
Aug. 18th, 2008 05:39 pmI'm back or rather my home computer or lap-top is back, yay!!! Granted four days wasn't really that long to be without it, but I felt oddly disconnected. Probably good - in case you didn't notice, I was getting addicted/compulsive about posting in my lj again - which requires a bit of a break.
Finally finished Lolita File's Sex Lies Murder Fame - which is a satire of the chick-lit modern romance novel, with heavy Patricia Highsmith & Bret Easton Ellis/noir underpinnings. The main character reminds me a great deal of the characters Highsmith liked to write about or rather Patrick Batman from Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho. This book is easier to read than that one was, while it's graphic in places, it's no where near as graphic as American Psycho.
If you've never heard of the writer, Lolita Files is a contemporary African American writer, best known for Child of God and both that novel and this one have been optioned for film rights.
It took a while to plow my way through the novel for a couple of reasons: 1) you don't like anyone in this book - which isn't an issue for everyone but I need someone to root for, they don't have to be a nice person, I just have to want to root for them and 2)I read it for twenty minute stretchs on the train to and from work, on the days I didn't feel the need to take a twenty minute snooze.
The plot of the novel is fairly simple - Penn Hamilton, a sexy, incredibly attractive, blond greek god of a man, with an IQ of 210 and no conscience or morals to speak of, after much fuss and bother, decides to seduce a homely yet high ranking editor named Beryl Unger - in order to get published and cross-marketed and become a STAR. He also seduces her top-ranking romance novelist. Hi-jinks ensue.
Each section is split with little introductory definitions of literary/philosophical movements such as Romanticism, Realism, Existentialism (ex: "A literary and philosophical movement emphasizing the belief that an individual is isolated and totally free in an indifferent universe - not controlled by fate, higher forces, or pre-ordained events - and is therefore completely responsible for what happens to him and what he makes of life" - this is coupled with a literary quote by some famous writer, in this case Soren Kierkegaard: "It belongs to the imperfection of everything human that man can only attain his desire by passing through its opposite". My favorite of these little quotes is one by Blake Edwards regarding the section on Realism : "You have to make every moment count. It's not easy to do, you know. I don't think that a day goes by when I don't turn my back on some small thing or some issue somewhere." )...also includes sections called "Deux Ex Machina" defined as "a device used in Greek and Roman theater where a crane made of wooden beams and elaborate pulleys lowered a god or what appeared to be the hand of a god onto the stage to physically remove the hero from the midst of an impossible difficulty" or " A literary device where the author uses the surprise intervention of an improbably person or event to get a character out of a difficult situation or to bring a story to a convenient conclusion." (In short what the majority of science fiction television writers seem to do on an annual basis.) And Metafiction - "A work of fiction that self-consciously examines itself while telling a story, blurring the lines between reality and fiction within the levels of narative. Fiction about fiction. Also known as surfiction."
The book is actually quite humorous in places and very snarky or tongue firmly in cheek, deftly satirizing the publishing, advertising, music, and film industries, as well as the idea of branding and best-sellerdom or celebrity. It's also a bit bitter, or angry, and dated - Katie Couric is still on The Today Show in the Alternate Universe for example. But it does do a good job of making fun of the hype machine and how people reacte a bit like lemmings towards it.
Where the novel fell short is the ending. The writer goes on a bit long, commenting on the novel, when it would have worked better if she'd just stopped five pages earlier. I've seen this a lot in novels lately - making me wonder about the publishing industry and whether anyone edits anything any more. Makes me wonder about the film industry as well.
Granted it is satire and satire in order to work, does need to be a bit over the top. A prime example is Tropic Thunder and Borat - which both work because they go over the top, often way way way over the top, only to suddenly and effortlessly swing back just in the nick of time. You can't be too subtle or you risk merely being offensive - ie. The infamous Barack Obama New Yorker cartoon. On the other hand - if you go too far, you risk losing the reader to a fit of eye-rolling - You Don't Mess with The Yohan. Satire is not an easy thing to pull off well. Files, to her credit, does stay within the bounds, but her last chapter did feel a bit like over-kill, as if she didn't trust the reader - resulting in the before-mentioned eye-rolling.
My other difficulty with the novel is File's protagonist or anti-hero, who is a bit on the whiny side, considering the fact that he looks like a greek god with a 210 IQ, this doesn't quite work. Actually everyone is a little whiny. The three characters who succeed in the novel? You dislike the most and sort of wish would pay, so it leaves one with a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. Highsmith did this better I think with the Talented Mr. Ripley.
It's an amusing light read - and a great antidote for anyone who has read one too many chick-lit novels. Also it's a treat to have an African American Female Writer jump into Easton Ellis territory.
Not an easy book to find, though. I had to get my copy at the Strand, Wales got her's via the library, so that might be your best bet.
Finally finished Lolita File's Sex Lies Murder Fame - which is a satire of the chick-lit modern romance novel, with heavy Patricia Highsmith & Bret Easton Ellis/noir underpinnings. The main character reminds me a great deal of the characters Highsmith liked to write about or rather Patrick Batman from Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho. This book is easier to read than that one was, while it's graphic in places, it's no where near as graphic as American Psycho.
If you've never heard of the writer, Lolita Files is a contemporary African American writer, best known for Child of God and both that novel and this one have been optioned for film rights.
It took a while to plow my way through the novel for a couple of reasons: 1) you don't like anyone in this book - which isn't an issue for everyone but I need someone to root for, they don't have to be a nice person, I just have to want to root for them and 2)I read it for twenty minute stretchs on the train to and from work, on the days I didn't feel the need to take a twenty minute snooze.
The plot of the novel is fairly simple - Penn Hamilton, a sexy, incredibly attractive, blond greek god of a man, with an IQ of 210 and no conscience or morals to speak of, after much fuss and bother, decides to seduce a homely yet high ranking editor named Beryl Unger - in order to get published and cross-marketed and become a STAR. He also seduces her top-ranking romance novelist. Hi-jinks ensue.
Each section is split with little introductory definitions of literary/philosophical movements such as Romanticism, Realism, Existentialism (ex: "A literary and philosophical movement emphasizing the belief that an individual is isolated and totally free in an indifferent universe - not controlled by fate, higher forces, or pre-ordained events - and is therefore completely responsible for what happens to him and what he makes of life" - this is coupled with a literary quote by some famous writer, in this case Soren Kierkegaard: "It belongs to the imperfection of everything human that man can only attain his desire by passing through its opposite". My favorite of these little quotes is one by Blake Edwards regarding the section on Realism : "You have to make every moment count. It's not easy to do, you know. I don't think that a day goes by when I don't turn my back on some small thing or some issue somewhere." )...also includes sections called "Deux Ex Machina" defined as "a device used in Greek and Roman theater where a crane made of wooden beams and elaborate pulleys lowered a god or what appeared to be the hand of a god onto the stage to physically remove the hero from the midst of an impossible difficulty" or " A literary device where the author uses the surprise intervention of an improbably person or event to get a character out of a difficult situation or to bring a story to a convenient conclusion." (In short what the majority of science fiction television writers seem to do on an annual basis.) And Metafiction - "A work of fiction that self-consciously examines itself while telling a story, blurring the lines between reality and fiction within the levels of narative. Fiction about fiction. Also known as surfiction."
The book is actually quite humorous in places and very snarky or tongue firmly in cheek, deftly satirizing the publishing, advertising, music, and film industries, as well as the idea of branding and best-sellerdom or celebrity. It's also a bit bitter, or angry, and dated - Katie Couric is still on The Today Show in the Alternate Universe for example. But it does do a good job of making fun of the hype machine and how people reacte a bit like lemmings towards it.
Where the novel fell short is the ending. The writer goes on a bit long, commenting on the novel, when it would have worked better if she'd just stopped five pages earlier. I've seen this a lot in novels lately - making me wonder about the publishing industry and whether anyone edits anything any more. Makes me wonder about the film industry as well.
Granted it is satire and satire in order to work, does need to be a bit over the top. A prime example is Tropic Thunder and Borat - which both work because they go over the top, often way way way over the top, only to suddenly and effortlessly swing back just in the nick of time. You can't be too subtle or you risk merely being offensive - ie. The infamous Barack Obama New Yorker cartoon. On the other hand - if you go too far, you risk losing the reader to a fit of eye-rolling - You Don't Mess with The Yohan. Satire is not an easy thing to pull off well. Files, to her credit, does stay within the bounds, but her last chapter did feel a bit like over-kill, as if she didn't trust the reader - resulting in the before-mentioned eye-rolling.
My other difficulty with the novel is File's protagonist or anti-hero, who is a bit on the whiny side, considering the fact that he looks like a greek god with a 210 IQ, this doesn't quite work. Actually everyone is a little whiny. The three characters who succeed in the novel? You dislike the most and sort of wish would pay, so it leaves one with a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. Highsmith did this better I think with the Talented Mr. Ripley.
It's an amusing light read - and a great antidote for anyone who has read one too many chick-lit novels. Also it's a treat to have an African American Female Writer jump into Easton Ellis territory.
Not an easy book to find, though. I had to get my copy at the Strand, Wales got her's via the library, so that might be your best bet.
