Mr. Famous has it all -- fame, fortune and a fabulously wealthy blue-blooded lover.
Then this megastar of Hollywood action films meets tough times when a couple of box-office failures force him to confront the twilight of his career in Carol Wolper's novel, "Mr. Famous."
But Mr. Famous isn't the book's main character. That would be Lucinda, a dream-chasing but failed Hollywood screenwriter who has become Mr. Famous' chef-nutritionist.
Parts of "Mr. Famous" are told in the third person, but most chapters are narrated by Lucinda. This gives Wolper, herself a screenwriter, the opportunity to paint a portrait of Hollywood through Lucinda, who seems to love and hate the place.
As Mr. Famous faces both the indignity of being on the B-list at the Vanity Fair Oscar party and the frightening prospect of making "straight to video" movies, Lucinda must juggle her responsibilities as a chef with her new role as Mr. Famous' unlikely confidant.
Along the way, Wolper familiarizes the reader with Lucinda's personal struggles. In the seemingly emotionless and cutthroat Hollywood landscape, Lucinda searches for love despite her fear of intimacy.
A surprise subplot develops when Lucinda is stalked by someone she suspects is her former boyfriend. As her stalker problems burgeon, Lucinda is driven from her personal life and becomes more engrossed in her employer -- and the feeling becomes mutual.
What "Mr. Famous" lacks in literary pretension it makes up for with clever witticisms. For example, while driving through Mr. Famous' home town, Lucinda muses: "One yard had a statue of the Virgin Mary out front, another had a jungle gym and a third had a lot of weeds. Faith, kids and poverty. It kind of summed up the area."
Throughout the book, Wolper exposes the less-than-glamorous side of Hollywood. However, she makes fun lightly, without vehement moral judgments.
"Mr. Famous" is simple but entertaining, and the typical quick read.
Additional Information:
Details
'Mr. Famous'Author: Carol Wolper
Publisher: Riverhead Books, 260 pages
Price: $24.95
