Pretty Things Author:Susan Compo Booklist called Susan Compo smart, sassy, and tough, while Publishers Weekly praised her witty, unflinching prose. Compos narrative voice -- satirical and allusive -- has been compared to Dorothy Parkers; her characters display the same irresistible combination of smartass wit, despair, and whistling-in-the-da... more »rk bravado. Following two highly regarded story collections, Susan Compos first novel takes a sharp-eyed look at LA's culture industry.
Giselle Entwistle has her hands full with her roster of demanding show-business clients. Theres Adon, struggling to make the transition from teen idol to mature star with the aid of a goatee. Theres would-be rock impresario Hedda Hophead, aggressive as junk mail and just as relentless. Theres country singer Len Tingle, whose career has as many ups and downs as his love affair with Giselle; and Tupperware demonstrator extraordinaire Troy Harder, a living legend in food storage, who Giselle fears might want to plastic-wrap her. Not to mention child prodigy belter Frances Culligan, who seems to have disappeared.
And then theres Pandra, whose haunting memoir of growing up in suburban Orange County and coming of age in '70s glitter-era Los Angeles (platform boots, Rodneys English Disco, The Real Don Steele Show, David Bowie clones) forms a book within this book. Giselle hopes to get Pandras story published, but it does bring up this little matter of a possible murder in Pandras past . . .« less