Pretty Things

A sparkling satire of Hollywood stars and wannabes, packed with “dead-on observations of L.A. culture, show business, and human nature” (Booklist).

Susan Compo’s ­narrative voice — satirical and allusive — has earned her comparisons to Dorothy Parker, and her characters display a similarly irresistible blend of smart-ass wit, despair, and whistling-in-the-dark bravado. Following two highly regarded story collections, Compo’s debut novel takes a sharp-eyed look at LA’s culture industry.

Talent agent Giselle Entwistle has her hands full juggling her oddball roster of show-business clients. There’s Adon, who’s struggling to make the transition from teen idol to mature star with the aid of a goatee; and would-be rock impresario Hedda Hophead, “aggressive as junk mail and just as relentless.” There’s country singer Len Tingle, whose career has as many ups and downs as his love affair with Giselle; and Tupperware demonstrator 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 there’s Pandra, whose haunting memoir of growing up in suburban Orange County and coming of age back in ’70s glitter-era Los Angeles (platform boots, Rodney’s English Disco) forms a book within this book. Giselle hopes to get Pandra’s true story published - though it does bring up the matter of a possible murder . . .