Attack of the Theater People

Edward Zanni is a gay 20 year old aspiring actor, who is thrown out of drama school for being ... well ... too dramatic. With his professor's advice to "experience life" for a year, then reapply, he takes a series of strange jobs, ranging from personal office assistant to a sadistic tyrant, to a host for preteen parties (masquerading as a Brit host of the UK's version of MTV, which doesn't exist), as an usher at a Broadway theatre, and as a party facilitator for fancy corporate events. In the context of that last one, Edward gets involved in an insider trading scandal, feeding overheard conversations about companies to a securities broker he develops a serious crush on. Although Acito provides enough background info for this to stand on its own, this is essentially a sequel to his hilarious "How I Paid For College," and is best enjoyed if you read that other book first. Back are his colorful friends, including the conniving, nerdish Natie, the outgoing student thespian Kelly, and Edward's straight-but-not-narrow (and soooo hunky) crush, Doug (who is now headlining a Bruce Springsteen cover band.) Like that first book, "..Theatre People" is a delightfully "over the top" comedy of errors, involving the Shah of Iran, a 13 year old stalker, the SEC, a high speed chase across a Broadway stage, a politically charged staging of "The Music Man," posing as a dead man to rent an apartment, the wrath of Edward's insane stepmother, and a flamboyant wardrobe designer known as Hung (That's a name, not an adjective!) Suspend all normal channels of belief, and hang on for the ride! Five "jazz hands" (stars) out of five!

It was great to check in with "Ed-wid" and his buddies and to see what they were up to. I hope that this series continues!!

Okay, I admit that since discovering Marc's work when a copy of his marvelous first novel, "How I Paid for College" floated past me, I have become a fan. I've learned over the years, that some folks need their literature grounded firmly in the real world, and I suppose this book is not for them. For those of us who can't help but twirl our umbrellas when caught in a storm, and like to trek to the top of the Empire State Building so that we can belt a few lines of "New York, New York...", this book is a gift. A hilarious tale of inspirations and espionage. A delightfully wacky roller-coaster of a novel which causes eruptions of laughter...nay, guffaws and cackles at almost every page. A book that gives us a break from the tedium and depressing sogginess of the daily news. I bought six and sent them to friends who need a bit of tonic. Until somebody invents Mulliner's-Buck-U-Uppo, we need to books like this to keep the divine silliness that is life in a proper perspective. In short, it's pure comic gold!

Maybe you've heard Marc Acito on NPR. It's possible that you've even heard the guy sing; after all, he is both an opera tenor and "mental for Yentl." But most likely, you know Marc Acito from his first novel, How I Paid for College. As the blog entries above reveal, Marc has a bright wit, and this book amply reflects it. Acito's novel relates the further adventures of Edward Zanni and his affiliated theater geeks. Having succeeded in their quest to get Edward into the Juilliard School, we now fast-forward to 1986, and Edward is sitting on his "jazz hands" after getting booted from the school of his dreams. What follows are a series of (dare I write it?) zany misadventures that together, resemble the plotline of a well-done musical comedy. That is, the characters do break into song periodically, and the results are actually funny. As this vehicle suggests, there's plenty of ba-ba-ba-bing zingers and, it being the 1980s, there is even an insider trading scandal. Good stuff. REALLY good stuff. Fun Fact: Marc was at a Chuck Palahniuk reading (Fight Club) when Palahniuk remembered reading Acito's byline on a humor column. He then recommended Acito to his literary agent, and a star was born... er, referred.

Acito helps me recreate myself again with his sequal 'Attack of the Theater People.' Constantly on the edge of my seat, I kept telling myself I'd read "just one more chapter" until I finished the book less than two days after I'd gotten it. Acito sparks the imagination in his book as he sends Edward Zanni back on another set of mind-boggling adventures using his theater skills as well as his best assets - his friends. Exciting, suspenseful, and at some points mildly erotic, Acito has done it again with a great hit. I can't wait to read the next in the series!