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Blockbuster
Former Saturday Night Live writers Patricia Marx and Douglas G. McGrath take aim at Hollywood in this wicked, satirical novel about the making of the flop of flops.
Through the 1930s and 40s, X. Y. Schwerdloff brought us the the best comedies ( Let’s Play Golf ), the best dramas ( Surprise Witness ), the best musicals ( Sing-a-ling ), even the best World War II propaganda ( Tokyo, Kansas ).
But by the 60s, the legendary Schwerdloff studio had fallen on hard times. To get out of accepting an assignment at the studio, many actors served in Vietnam. Fugitives liked to appear in a Schwerdloff film because they would be safe from being seen.
Now, it is up to Bucky Schwerdloff to save his father’s studio. He must produce a blockbuster. To do so, he hires the most successful director in Hollywood, Ferris Keneally, whose last film, The Blinkies, broke box office records. Bucky promises Keneally that he can make whatever film he wants.
Thus begins the hilarious drama of the most breathtaking flop in Hollywood history. There has never been a film to match Keneally’s version of The Pilgrim’s Progress, about which one film critic “You are mesmerized by it . . . the same way you can’t take your eyes away from a bad car accident.”
“One of the most original and witty takeoffs on Hollywood . . . a delicious read.”—Judith Crist
Through the 1930s and 40s, X. Y. Schwerdloff brought us the the best comedies ( Let’s Play Golf ), the best dramas ( Surprise Witness ), the best musicals ( Sing-a-ling ), even the best World War II propaganda ( Tokyo, Kansas ).
But by the 60s, the legendary Schwerdloff studio had fallen on hard times. To get out of accepting an assignment at the studio, many actors served in Vietnam. Fugitives liked to appear in a Schwerdloff film because they would be safe from being seen.
Now, it is up to Bucky Schwerdloff to save his father’s studio. He must produce a blockbuster. To do so, he hires the most successful director in Hollywood, Ferris Keneally, whose last film, The Blinkies, broke box office records. Bucky promises Keneally that he can make whatever film he wants.
Thus begins the hilarious drama of the most breathtaking flop in Hollywood history. There has never been a film to match Keneally’s version of The Pilgrim’s Progress, about which one film critic “You are mesmerized by it . . . the same way you can’t take your eyes away from a bad car accident.”
“One of the most original and witty takeoffs on Hollywood . . . a delicious read.”—Judith Crist
- GenresFiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
14 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Marx
37 books89 followersPatricia Marx is an American humorist and writer.
Born in Abingdon, Pennsylvania, she earned her B.A. from Harvard University in 1975. Her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Atlantic Monthly. Marx is a former writer for Saturday Night Live and Rugrats, and one of the first two women elected to the Harvard Lampoon.[1][2] She is the author of the 2007 novel, Him Her Him Again The End of Him, as well as several humor books and children's books (Meet My Staff, Now Everybody Really Hates Me, Now I Will Never Leave the Dinner Table).[3]
Born in Abingdon, Pennsylvania, she earned her B.A. from Harvard University in 1975. Her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Atlantic Monthly. Marx is a former writer for Saturday Night Live and Rugrats, and one of the first two women elected to the Harvard Lampoon.[1][2] She is the author of the 2007 novel, Him Her Him Again The End of Him, as well as several humor books and children's books (Meet My Staff, Now Everybody Really Hates Me, Now I Will Never Leave the Dinner Table).[3]
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May 19, 2011Extremely funny and sadly overlooked and/or underrated pastiche of the Hollywood process. Written by a couple of alums of Saturday Night Live. Douglas McGrath went on to be a terrific film director.
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