Seeing Stars

Seeing Stars, like other books by this author, is a down-to-earth story about ordinary people doing things that are interesting, but fall short of extraordinary - and Diane Hammond makes me want to be there! with those particular people! living-breathing their particular lives! until there are no more pages to turn. With every word; every perfectly-selected unobtrusive detail, Hammond weds "extra" to "ordinary". She did it in "Hanna's Dream" and she's done it again in "Seeing Stars" (and in other books she's written). Hammond writes and magic happens; apparently she can't help it. Seeing Stars is good story told by a master story-teller. I think you'll like it.

I love, love, love this book by Diane Hammond. I have read all of her previous books (and most more than once) and this one is just excellent. Her characters are complex and believable and her insider views of the Hollywood scene are fascinating. I appreciate her ablility to create such vivid worlds with her words and I'm always a bit sad when the story ends. I look forward to her next endeavor while I re-read this one!

'Seeing Stars' is such an engaging story. Others writing here, before me, have summarized the aspiring-child-actors plot, set in LA. I agree that Hammond's insider knowledge of the Southern California TV/movie culture adds a lot to the novel, because it's integrated subtly into the writing in a comfortable, non-show-off way. To me, though, Hammond's greatest gift is creating a set of characters whose lives we come to really care about. The teens Bethany, Allison, Quinn, and others are multi-dimensional, as are their relationships with the adults in the book. At times sassy and never saccharine, those relationships are uplifting or heartbreaking or both. Throughout, a spirit of love shines through. The core idea here is that what matters-- whether right alongside Hollywood success or in its yawning absence-- is love: a person to care for, a person to care for you. I bought this book because I had so thoroughly enjoyed Hammond's earlier novel "Hannah's Dream," and I was very very pleased with this one too.

Everyone has a dream. And for many, Hollywood is the real field of dreams. In Seeing Stars by Diane Hammond, Ruth Rabinowitz dreams that her sweet, talented, thirteen year old daughter Bethany aka Bethy will make it big in La La land. So the supportive, but star struck Ruth and the talented, but "niche" actress Bethy leave their Seattle home, along with the loving, but emotionally unsupportive husband/father, Hugh Rabinowitz, and decamp to Hollywood to follow that dream. Seeing Stars follows Ruth and Bethy's ride in the Hollywood funhouse of show biz. During the day the pair travel between auditions, call backs, bookings, showcases, and acting lessons. And every night ends with Ruth fervent prayer: "Please God, shine on my Bethany and make her a star." Along the way, the reader is introduced to other child actor hopefuls some with more money than talent and others with equal heapings of talent and problems. In fact a few of the side characters and their storylines are vastly more compelling than Ruth's and Bethy's saga of "how to be nice while reaching for the brass ring and is it really worth it?" According to Hammond, the novel was inspired by her personal experiences of living for two years in Hollywood with her actress daughter. The author's insider's knowledge of the terrain is amply reflected in her writing. For example, Hammond writes in vernacular of the field: actors read "sides," not scripts and go "off book" when they have memorized their lines. Reading Seeing Stars for the insider's info/jargon alone makes the novel an enjoyable read. Seeing Stars is an engrossing story of what really goes on behind closed studio doors. Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Original edition (March 23, 2010), 480 pages. Advance review copy provided courtesy of TLC Book Tours.

Ruth Rabinowitz knows her thirteen years old daughter Bethany is destined for stardom in Hollywood. Thus, she leaves behind her husband (Bethany's dad) and takes her teen to Los Angeles where she expects instant status. As Bethany's manager Mimi Roberts renames her Bethany Ann Roosevelt, the child enters the world of humiliating rejections while her mom continues Seeing Stars. Bethany meets other teen wannabes with more experience at being cast off. Laurel hopes to be a star before her dying mom passes away. Allison the Texan has personal issues that interfere with her acting desires. Quinn, also from Seattle like Bethany is, has been abandoned by her abusive stepfather and ineffective mother, which makes Mimi her surrogate parent. Fascinatingly the story line focuses mostly on the stage mother and her offspring as they face rounds of degrading rebuffs, yet the stereotyped three other teens steal the show with their personal troubles. In fact Ruth's epiphany about motherhood and stage motherhood detracts from the tense character driven saga of a teen trying to make it in Hollywood where the norm is debasing oneself only to receive demeaning dismissal. Harriet Klausner