West of Paradise

Imagine what it is to try and find depth in people whose whole lives are based on not having any. That's what happens to Kate, a Fitzgerald buff, who shares his illusions about Hollywood and comes to Glitterville in the hope of finding friends, love, and..please God.. an imspiration for a great book. So she goes to the funeral of a high-profile producer in hopes of rubbing shoulders with all the celebs she knows will attend, not just out of social-climbing, but because she is so desperately lonely, LA being a place where nobody invites you unless you already know them, and there's noi place to meet accidentally. So as a funeral is really a party, only a sad one, she crashes, And meets a funny, lively actor/dope-dealer(everyone in Hollywood is a hyphenate) who takes her to the big shebang afterwards, and introduces her to everybody under false pretenses, which is all there are in the movie business.And idealist though she starts out, she becomes a part of it all, meeting zany characters, power players, glitzy frauds, and one REAL person, Lila, who doesn't belong there at all. I know just howKate feels, because I, too, got caught up in that bulls*** and that's why I wrote about it. I'm the author. But I had fun writing it, and I hope you'll have fun reading it, and it helped me make the decision to get out of there...So look what happens to her. But you'll love Lila, and the reclusive director Rodney Sameth(guess who he's based on?) and the one pure soul, (I'll tell you who he is.) And you'll laugh with Algernon Reddy(Timothy Leary) as he leaves this life, and says "I decided not to die in California, because how could I tell?

This is the first time in years I have picked up a book and literally not been able to put it down. Fay Weldon said it was the best book out of Hollywood in years and she wasn't kidding. What a joy! she added, but what she didn't add was that it's hard to stop laughing in-between the fabulous insights into Hollywood and all its glitz, which of course covers terrific pain and a sense of non-belonging that seems to characterize not just movie stars, but everyone who longs for celebrity.Elizabeth Forsyth Hailey who wrote one of my favorite novels said "If Jane Austen were alive at the end of the 20th century and living in Hollywood her name would be Gwen Davis" No kidding. It's a study of the place as if it were a real society with pith and vinegar.Would love to exchange opinions with other readers about who the roman a clef characters really are. please contact me at [email protected]