This is fiction?
I suppose it takes some talent to write a novel in the form of letters from oneself, but having read magazine interviews with Elisabeth Robinson in which she shared what happened to her sister makes me wonder exactly how much creative talent is in play here. There's the usual legal disclaimer at the front of the book, about how any character's resemblance to a real person is "purely coincidental"...Well, not really. Not her sister's, certainly and probably not some other people's either. Having read the book, it seems like she essentially wrote a memoir, but gave herself some imaginative latitude as far as her dealings with Robin Williams, et al. and perhaps took a few shots at some ill-disguised movie industry folks whom she had some business dealings with - or bad dates with. And then called it fiction. So I wouldn't put Robinson's talent on par with someone who actually works to create a novel and a plot. Sure, most people's short stories and novels no doubt include some of what happened to them in it, but one gets the impression that Robinson didn't work too terribly hard on this piece of "fiction." She can turn a few phrases, but without her Hollywood "platform" she probably wouldn't have gotten a major publisher for this first effort. Overall, rather disappointing.

You know, on first glance it gives the appearance of being a rather trivial book, because of both it's format; which consists entirely of faxes, letters, and emails, which make for a very quick read...and because of the subject matter; single 30+ female tries to produce her first movie and is dealing with assorted Hollywood stereotypes, ex-boyfriend, and sick sibling at the same time.

HOWEVER, this book really has some wonderful prose and is much more than a fun page-turner. The following quote from the book (a letter to her ex-boyfriend) was also in a review of the novel. It's an example of some of the beautiful writing which runs throughout this fine book:

"Maybe we're all born with a protective mental coating like a pomegranate seed has, an invisible placenta that prevents reality from piercing our tender brains, that allows us to fool ourselves until our last breath, that lets us actually believe that one day we'll be discovered and one day we'll be rich, one day the world will see our hidden genius, that lets me believe that somewhere in the recesses of your sweet heart and hard head you still care for me".

If you like this kind of writing, and want to get quickly involved in an interesting, sometimes funny/sweet /sad novel, this one is for you.

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