Last year I took an incredibly helpful course at UCi called Intermediate Novel Writing. The next semester's Advanced Novel Writing course was cancelled, so here I am –– still an intermediate novelist (currently at amateur status but I hope to turn pro soon.) So, this course relied on a number of books but the main text was Techniques of the Selling Writer, authored by Dwight V. Swain, a college professor in the 1960s. There was much to like about this book but the one element I took issue with was the author's focus on a main character's morality and the idea that fiction should present the protagonist's willingness to "sacrifice self-interest to the larger cause of his own standards." [Techniques of the Selling Writer, 128].I certainly don't require such self-sacrifice, not do I agree with all of the things Swain says about the function of an individual within society. I like the lone wolf, the anti-hero. And I like books (and movies) where the bank robber gets away with the money.I think one of the better aspects of the late 20th century is the embrace of the anti-hero, the Jack Bauer character. Further, I don't need to like a character to want to read about him or her anymore than I need to feel like a candidate would be a fun person to share a drink with in order to elect him or her) President. Thus we have Vinnie Callabrese.In L.A. Times, our main character is not just anti-hero, he's almost anti-human. The dark embodiment of every Hollywood climber's secret desires, Vinnie changes his name to Michael Vincent and becomes an independent producer while still at NYU. He's also a collector for the mob, a man who's already killed his abusive father and is willing to end anyone else who gets in his way.From bagman for "The Family," to indie darling to studio exec, Michael makes all the right moves. Until he doesn't. Because changing his name, zip code and occupation doesn't alter his DNA and it's in his blood to be a sociopathic killer.As a Hollywood striver myself, I enjoyed his journey. I don't need my protagonists (or even my friends) to be especially moral or likable so long as they are interesting.
The story is interesting & fast-paced, but the characters don't change much. Vinnie Callabrese begins life in Little Italy in NYC and ends it in Los Angeles. He is conditioned to violence by his abusive father. Vinnie, however, has a mind for details, seeing both the big and little pictures, and for recognizing a story that can be shown on the Big Screen. He loves movies and wants to be a producer, a job which will demand his specific talents. After "accidentally" killing the loan shark for whom he works, Vinnie (now Michael Vincent) flees to California to fulfill his dream of being a movie producer. The new venue does not change him as his violence continues and even escalates. Vinnie/Michael continues to use people, steal from his friend/employer, and kill whoever oppose him. Only after his death does he see the souls of all whom he murdered dragging him to hell. Too bad he didn't figure out that his actions have consequences before he died.
Do You like book L.A. Times (1994)?
NY mobster Vinnie becomes LA Hollywood Michael. Vinnie stakes out a hard scrabble life as a low level gofer for the mob, but his love of movies is parlayed into a sweet deal as a Hollywood producer. He heads west with his buddie's girl, Vanessa, and sets up shop in LA, only occasionally calling on his childhood buddy Tommy Pro for help in difficult situations. Vinnie abandons his past to become Michael Vincent, and he sets about seducing every woman of power in LA. Welcomed into the ownership circle of Centurion Studios, Michael engineers the overthrow and murder of its head, Leo Goldman, and seduces his gorgeous wife Amanda. Michael runs afoul of his mob buddies when he resists a buyout overture, and is shot and maimed prior to his final showdown with Tommy.Another classic Woods' novel, springing from the NYC mob days and weaving into Woods' beloved Centurion Studios, you will love this read.
—Will
This book is almost a mirror image of a Jackie Collins novel. You've got Hollywood crossed with the New York Mafia. Plenty of sex, drugs, starlets and murder. Oh, and the main character is a total douche bag. You grow to loathe him real quick because he's only in the whole thing for himself. You wind up rooting for him to be killed in the end really. So, if you like Jackie Collins books, you'll enjoy this one too. For simple mind-fluff, I enjoyed it myself.The storyline flows well and it keeps you interested, but the characters lack any kind of development. You have no physical descriptions and no personality traits to even get you remotely interested in them so you don't get attached to them making it easier to be unsympathetic when something tragic happens. So with that, I gave it a 4 star rating. Entertaining yet lacking.
—Michelle Bacon
