The Manhattan Beach Project

Very funny sequel to "The Deal". Lefcourt is one of my favorite fun authors. If you want another great read, get "The Dreyfus Affair".

I HAVE JUST FINISHED READING 'THE MANHATTAN BEACH PROJECT' BUT HAVE NOT STOPPED LAUGHING. IT IS UNIQUELY BRILLIANT AND FUNNY. THE PLOT IS COMPLEX, THE CHARACTERS OVER THE TOP. AND YET IT IS REVEALING AND TRUTHFUL. A GREAT READ.

It's been said that the spiritual ancestors of Hollywood producers are not charlatans and snake oil purveyors after all. They're a band of half-crazed itinerant jugglers. In this spirit, Peter Lefcourt has created a non-stop insider's sendup of the misnomered TV reality shows. In Lefcourt's view, the fallout from Hollywood has reached such a pass, that even in the bowels of Turmenistan, a demented warlord and his deranged minions are already afflicted by the U.S. entertainment industry. As it happens, these and other deadbeats crawling around the wastelands of Centra Asia are ripe for the last-ditch efforts of Charlie Burns, our washed-up producer hero, and other equally desperate TV executives back in L.A. in a never-ending hilarious series of machinations and complications. As it turns out, actual explosions, rampant sex of all sorts and assasinations, just aren't enough. All of this has to be tweaked with bogus subtitles and recycled plot lines so that potential viewers will keep tuning in for thirteen consecutive episodes. In truth, things have gotten so bad that, in actuality, even the weather channel is now featuring victims of tornados, blizzards and floods who gleefully comment on footage of their own near-death experiences. It therefore might not be too much of a stretch to soon discover that the weather hawkers want more: people trapped in earthquakes in remote regions of the world replete with witty repartee and compelling, escalating complications that will hold viewers and outdo the major channels. To boost their flagging ratings, they will doubtless have no choice but to call on Peter Lefcourt. (Mr.) Shelly Frome, Professor of Dramatic Arts Emeritus, Litchfield, Connecticut

AN OSCAR RATED COMEDIC ADVENTURE! In today's uncertain world a book has emerged filled with welcomed comic relief. Peter Lefcourt has a unique talent for unveiling the funny and the absurd often hidden by a serious façade. In this latest book we travel with him in his battle ready literary Hummer. He takes us from Hollywood to Central Asia. We meet a cast of offbeat characters swimming in a broth of intrigue, backstabbing and ambition sprinkled with the salt of active indolence. In all a real tight dysfunctional group of comical misfits. At a time when the world is fending off a host of anxieties it's important to lighten up...his writing, this novel, offers a welcome escape with countless moments of fun filled adventure. If you are familiar with Lefcourt's writing style, you know it's a book not to be missed! > Recent medical reports state that laughter is very healthy <br /> for ones heart. Reading this book could add years. <br /> <br />

This just might be the funniest book you'll read this year. Lefcourt skewers everything in his path: Hollywood, the television business, the State Department, political correctness and Central Asian politics. The story becomes more and more absurd, and just when you think he's never going to pull it together, he ropes you right in. Though this book is a sequel of sorts to his first novel, the delicious cult favorite, "The Deal," (the hero, Charlie Berns, returns) you don't have to have read that book to enjoy this one. There's one caveat, however. If you read this book, you just might be hooked and want to go and read his six other books, each one a little gem in its own right. Don't say I didn't warn you.