A drug-addicted film legend and daughter of Hollywood royalty, whose avant-garde novels and iconic twist as a rebellious princess of local opera have captivated enthusiasts for decades… sounds familiar?
The first Byron Lane, who was once Carrie Fisher’s genuine non-public assistant, exchanges facts for fiction in “A Star Is Bored” (Henry Holt, 352 pp., ★★★ of four), a brilliant new novel that shakes celebrity culture with a privileged attitude about the care and nutrition of the great stars.
“My professional needs would be to inspire her to write, correct her score, make her wear a bra.” Thus begins Charlie Besson’s crazy adventure as a non-public assistant to Kathi Kannon, a screen star known for his messy life as betting on priestess Talara in the epic film “Nova Quest”.
Book Review: A Stranger Takes Refuge in Catherine Lacey’s Timely and Bewildering New Novel
Charlie is young, eager to please, a little distracted. Kathi is of a safe age, gets bored despite her mega wealth and says everything she has to fulfill. When Charlie captures paintings through a connection, he hopes to place his realization on a non-public connection with one of his film heroines, and escape the years of formation marked by his father’s anger and abuse.
Lane manages the ridiculous life of super-pampered “Holly-bizarre,” from his own running shoes to his own jets and, in Kathi’s case, Barney buying a bag of groceries full of prescription pills. Some of the novel’s most shocking scenes occur when Charlie meets for a drink with an unofficial club of non-public assistants, where other ambitious and intelligent young men exchange stories of humiliation and give advice on how to get everything their crazy bosses can call. for anytime: Genuine Yelp for settlers, catering arrangements, cocaine. »
As Charlie struggles to decipher Kathi’s cryptic texts and hopes his temper will change, he also navigates the choppy waters of online dating. It’s hard to have a date when your boss asks you day and night with questions like “Where’s this page online with those things I hate in this store I love?”
Demanding, rude and vulnerable, Kathi, however, becomes a kind of maternal figure to Charlie, buying him clothes and giving him unsolicited love advice. However, his secret habit is not yet drugs is starting to get out of hand and a habit that had been crazy and funny becomes disturbing and dangerous. Charlie is caught between looking to save Kathi and knowing that only she can save herself.
Sometimes, however, it is difficult to perceive Charlie’s determination to such an absolutely self-centered user. And there are excerpts from this novel where its accelerated tone – masses of MAJUSCULES and exclamations – can bore bored. However, there is a genuine sweetness in Charlie’s quest to connect, and readers will inspire him to find happiness.
“A Star Is Bored” is a bit boring, and it may be the summer reading that many of us crave.
”Death is life’: Alex Trebek talks about cancer in his memoir