Decent book, but not my taste. The one star is personal and subjective, not objective and based on what I think others will find. Read on if you want to know the specifics, but feel free to ignore me as well.I should have known better. While I found aspects of the show Frasier funny, overall I found it predictable in a boring rather than comforting way. This novel reads the same way. In all fairness, I just read Marc Acito's novels How I paid for college... and Attack of the Theater People which were wonderful send ups of groups of friends involved with show business in different ways and was hoping for more. Should have gone with my first instincts.In other words, it's not Joe Keenan, it's me. I should have realized that if I didn't like Frasier, I probably wouldn't fully appreciate his novel because the style would likely be similar. So, there are some truly funny bits in this novel, but it just isn't my thing. The caricatures are just too easy. But if you liked Frasier, then buy this because it reads like several hours worth of the show. If you are like me and didn't like that show, bypass this book. Oddly enough, I think if I met Joe Keenan I'd probably like him as a person. I get his sense of humor, I get the jokes, I just don't revel in either. He is, however, very witty and clever and I like that a lot. I think it is more a stylistic issue including a heavy level of vituperative comedy that bothers me.
A fast and funny, Joe Keenan - who spent 6 years working as a writer and executive producer on Frasier - has crafted a wonderfully, dare I say, Wodehousian romp through modern-day Hollywood. Philip Cavanaugh and his writing partner Claire Simmons are whisked off from New York to Los Angeles by Philip's unscrupulous friend Gilbert Selwyn to live the high life as Hollywood screenwriters - Gilbert has even arranged for the three to collaborate on a high profile script for a Michael Bay-type director. What could possibly go wrong? Naturally, everything. Between Gilbert's dishonesty and Philip's self-delusion, they have soon hopelessly muddled everything up and one can only hope that Claire's calm, no nonsense, competence can save them all from ruin. Very funny book (laugh out loud in parts) with a dash of m/m action that becomes necessary for the plot. Highly recommended.
Do You like book My Lucky Star (2006)?
I really wanted to enjoy book. I really tried hard. I did enjoy the Frasier-like prose. I really thought that the book, a satire on Hollywood would be a lot of fun. And, to the extent that I read the book, it was. Basic premise.. a couple of writers luck into the chance of a lifetime-- to write a screenplay for a major Hollywood production- only to discover that they are to adapt a sappy, sentimental, and ridiculously corny novel. Bucks are bucks, but their new livelihood is threatened when a re
—David
This was read for book club. I was told to expect uproarious hilarity, and feel deceived. As my buddy Amanda put it best- this book is frothy. It's not bad, exactly, but it was witty... not terribly funny. It was a quick read, and it did keep me engaged. No idea how we will discuss this at book club, however. Is it bad if I found the sex scenes enlightening, but somehow... mundane? I expected more, out of my first very gay novel. Or I should say, my first very openly gay novel (since one could argue much of my graduate work involved heavily closeted gay novels).
—Jennifer
Don’t let the cover fool you with its bad artwork. This is has to be one of the funniest books I have read in years. This is the fourth book, which features Philip, Clair and Gilbert and is by far the most outrageous. In this latest installment in this series, the three friends find themselves stuck writing a Hollywood screenplay and getting caught in the middle of a family feud of a famous celebrity and her closet gay and has-been actress sister. Like I stated, I can’t remember the last time a book made laugh so hard. Keenan, who has written for tv shows Frasier and Desperate Housewives, provides a quick narrative salted with just the right blend of humor. My Lucky Star is clearly the best of his four novels, which apparently take him years to write. I will patiently sit on the sides waiting for his next novel
—Scott
