A
supposed memoir of a young writer who conned the literary
establishment, How I Became a Famous
Novelist is hilarious and
incisive. Comic writer Steve Hely's satire spares nothing in
the
literary world: authors, publishers, literary journals, critics, TV
hosts, MFA programs, writing workshops, and especially readers who soak
up trash.
Protagonist Pete Tarslaw, still pining two years after graduation for
the college girlfriend who dumped him, earns his keep by writing
college application essays for students with meager English skills.
After seeing a TV interview with a best-selling novelist he considers a
maudlin con artist, Pete decides to put his own talent for fabrication
to
self-serving use: He’ll write a best-selling novel and
upstage his lost love at her wedding.
Pete’s formula for success is to study the ingredients in
best-sellers and include those in his book (among them:
a murder, a
club, secrets/mysterious missions, shy characters, characters whose
lives are changed suddenly, surprising love affairs, women
who’ve given up on love but turn out to be beautiful,
confusing sadness at the end, scenes on highways, delicious meals,
music, obscure exotic locations, plant names). The resulting mishmash, The Tornado Ashes Club,
does indeed climb best-seller lists, sending Pete off on
author’s tours and TV interviews. His eventual disclosure of the
scam even increases the book’s sales.
An alumnus of the staffs of The
Harvard Lampoon
and The
Late Show with David Letterman, Hely
is adept at satire, but the ending, a sweet note for people who still
care about
good writing, is a pleasant
surprise after all the biting wit.
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