From the back:
A Couple of Comedians is a richly sympathetic novel about a side of show business we rarely see---the special anxiety and exhilaration of the life of the entertainer.
David Ogilvie and Jim Larson are show business partners and lifelong friends-an upbeat comedy team in the tradition of such great duos as Hope & Crosby and Martin & Lewis. Every year Ogilvie comes down from his retreat in the mountains of California and joins Larson for the making of their annual movie in Hollywood--and every year, faced with the crazy pressures and pleasures to come, Oglivie thinks about quitting and breaking up the act. Heading for the "Golden Anus of the California Dream", he has no way of knowing that this year will be particularly crucial, that he and Larson will reach a bursting point triggered by the conflicts of their admittedly rich existence, and that, perhaps, nothing will ever be the same again.
Oglivie and Larson are simply a couple of wacko guys who love nothing better than deluxe cheeseburgers and pretty girls, but each in his own way must cope with the lunacy of Lotus Land--a land of movie moguls, voluptuous aspiring actresses, PR men, promoters and exploiters, and "old friends" looking for a handout. In chronicling their outrageous and often hilarious romp through Hollywood, the novel makes vivid the times of deep isolation and painful anxiety that haunt even the most successful artist. It probes the mysterious ground between two friends, who are so close that there is something of the occult, perhaps the magical, in their love for each other---something that crosses the boundaries of normal human relationships, verging on terror and fears of madness and murder.
A Couple of Comedians is a richly sympathetic novel about a side of show business we rarely see---the special anxiety and exhilaration of the life of the entertainer.
David Ogilvie and Jim Larson are show business partners and lifelong friends-an upbeat comedy team in the tradition of such great duos as Hope & Crosby and Martin & Lewis. Every year Ogilvie comes down from his retreat in the mountains of California and joins Larson for the making of their annual movie in Hollywood--and every year, faced with the crazy pressures and pleasures to come, Oglivie thinks about quitting and breaking up the act. Heading for the "Golden Anus of the California Dream", he has no way of knowing that this year will be particularly crucial, that he and Larson will reach a bursting point triggered by the conflicts of their admittedly rich existence, and that, perhaps, nothing will ever be the same again.
Oglivie and Larson are simply a couple of wacko guys who love nothing better than deluxe cheeseburgers and pretty girls, but each in his own way must cope with the lunacy of Lotus Land--a land of movie moguls, voluptuous aspiring actresses, PR men, promoters and exploiters, and "old friends" looking for a handout. In chronicling their outrageous and often hilarious romp through Hollywood, the novel makes vivid the times of deep isolation and painful anxiety that haunt even the most successful artist. It probes the mysterious ground between two friends, who are so close that there is something of the occult, perhaps the magical, in their love for each other---something that crosses the boundaries of normal human relationships, verging on terror and fears of madness and murder.
