American Dream Machine: A Novel

by Matthew Specktor

The story of two talent agents and their three troubled boys, heirs to Hollywood royalty; a sweeping narrative about fathers and sons, the movie business, and the sundry sea changes that have shaped Hollywood and, by extension, American life. American Dream Machine is the story of an iconic striver, a classic self-made man in the vein of Jay Gatsby or Augie March. It's the story of a talent agent and his troubled sons, two generations of Hollywood royalty. It's a sweeping narrative about parents and children, the movie business, and the sundry sea changes that have shaped Hollywood, and by extension, American life. Beau Rosenwald―overweight, not particularly handsome, and improbably charismatic―arrives in Los Angeles in 1962 with nothing but an ill-fitting suit and a pair of expensive brogues. By the late 1970s he has helped found the most successful agency in Hollywood. Through the eyes of his son, we watch Beau and his partner go to war, waging a seismic battle that redraws the lines of an entire industry. We watch Beau rise and fall and rise again, in accordance with the cultural transformations that dictate the fickle world of movies. We watch Beau's partner, the enigmatic and cerebral Williams Farquarsen, struggle to contain himself, to control his impulses and consolidate his power. And we watch two generations of men fumble and thrive across the LA landscape, learning for themselves the shadows and costs exacted by success and failure. Mammalian, funny, and filled with characters both vital and profound, American Dream Machine is a piercing interrogation of the role―nourishing, as well as destructive―that illusion plays in all our lives.

Genres: Fiction, Film, Historical Fiction, Novels, Contemporary, Literature, American

464 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2009

Reviews

[Edan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this ages ago and forgot to rate it. This book really did a number on me. Maybe it's that certain scenes took place around the corner from where I grew up, or that a scene takes place at King's Road (I could eat their purple cabbage salad every day!), or that the prose is so graceful, eloquent, and risky in its leaps for profundity and beauty. Or maybe it's because I loved the main character, Beau, the overweight and tragic Hollywood agent, or because I loved the first person omniscient POV. This novel is a little too long, and a few of transitions were a bit confusing, but I loved the book nonetheless, for its heart, its ambition, its LA-ness. It's wonderful.

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and a really engrossing story. The LA movie industry put under the microscope through the son of the main character who is an agent working his way from a nobody in the 60's to become part of the biggest agency in Hollywood. It's got a strong father/sons theme throughout and great details of LA, where you get a big sense of the glitz/glamour, power and greed of Hollywood.
Bret Easton Ellis was a big fan of the novel and this made me want to read it. Impressive.

[Zoe Carney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel I should start this by qualifying my relatively low rating - this is by no means a bad book. It's well-written, the author has an engaging style, and it's an interesting insight into the culture and changing priorities of Hollywood over the latter half of the 20th century.

So why did I only 'like' it? Well, for a start, I never really got a handle on the protagonist; he seemed to have no personality of his own beyond being a bit of a whiny loser. And while that's not inherently a bad thing, he wasn't a very interesting or sympathetic whiny loser, so I never once felt bad for him. One of the cover quotes describes him as a modern-day Jay Gatsby - this isn't true. He has nowhere near Gatsby's charm or magnetism, and nor does his father (who really is the heart of the story, and who the quote might have been intended to describe). The author keeps hanging a lantern on how unlikeable Beau - the father - is, but how people love him anyway, and for me that just... yeah, it didn't work. Show me what it is that people are responding to, don't just tell me.

The biggest thing I disliked about the book, however, probably wasn't really the book's fault at all. I'm just tired of reading how difficult and painful life is for straight white men, I think, and especially tired of women in these books being reduced to either one-note caricatures, or plot devices to give the men something to angst over. When the male characters are as complex and varied as they would be in real life, why are female characters invariably sidelined in this way? It's frustrating, and I'm getting bored of it, especially from writers who seem like they have the potential to do better.

In short, a well-written, but ultimately unsatisfying book. If the characters had been more fleshed out rather than so reliant on stereotypes maybe I'd have cared more, but as it was, I was glad to finish.

[Amanda Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I won this in a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

I literally have no idea what the plot or point of the last 462 pages I read was. Was this a story about Beau, the agent who had an up and down life? Nate, the illegitimate son? Severin, the twin who lost his way? All of the other random characters who popped up?

Most of the time, it was hard to tell where I was in the novel, what time period it was, and who the hell mattered at the time. The characters were flat, the storytelling drab, and the name dropping overkill. If you are interested in presenting your book as the "next great Hollywood story" you should attempt to deliver something with content.

By the end of the book, I did not care what happened to any of the characters. In fact, the major reveal was so author centric, as in, "Oh, I had this whole idea about part of this being mysterious, so I'm going to throw that in now." It had no meaning to the story, and only took away from the characters.

While our cast started out with a solid connection that could have gone somewhere, this just ended in a mess. Decent writing, terrible storytelling. 2 out of 5.

[Jack Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Dream Machine places a fragmented family within the tidal LA/Hollywood scene; as one of the blurbs puts it, LA "pulses" underneath the story.

It seems a little too easy to make an Entourage reference since much of the narrative swirls around talent agencies and the ups and downs of Beau Rosenwald and his friends/co-workers/enemies. It’s his quest and drive that propels the story. I love and hate Beau the way I love and hate Francis Underwood from House of Cards. My opinion of those two shifts every page or scene. They both make great characters.

A few eras are at play while characters grow, age, stagnate, disappear, or all of the above. Some endings serve as beginnings. At times it felt to me that perhaps heroin-induced short-term memory was synecdochic of the story’s structure. I’d like to read it again with that in mind to see if it was merely a fleeting, short-term thought.

I’ve only been to Hollywood a few times, but Specktor seeps his pages with the area. It makes me want to visit, even though I pretty much hate the place. On my first visit there I blasted Tool’s “Ænima” on Sunset Boulevard. I listened to the song quite a bit while reading the book; it served as a decent soundtrack, as did Bill Hick’s comedy routine “Arizona Bay”(which influenced the song). I will end the review with a few of those Tool lyrics, which apply:

_________

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see Armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this

Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your Prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car.

Some say a comet will fall from the sky.
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves.
Followed by fault lines that cannot sit still.
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.


One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.

Learn to swim.

Mom's gonna fix it all soon.
Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to
be.

Learn to swim.

Fuck L Ron Hubbard and
Fuck all his clones.
Fuck all these gun-toting
Hip gangster wannabes.

Learn to swim.

Fuck retro anything.
Fuck your tattoos.
Fuck all you junkies and
Fuck your short memory.

Learn to swim.

Fuck smiley glad-hands,
With hidden agendas.
Fuck these dysfunctional,
Insecure actresses.

Learn to swim.

'Cause I'm praying for rain;
I'm praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom, please, flush it all away.
I wanna see it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in.
Watch you flush it all away.

Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.

I wanna see it come down.
Bring it down.
Suck it down.
Flush it down.

ps: I also noticed a missing period between sentences on page 376 I don't find the missing period problematic -- I enjoy finding small errors in published books.

[Kim Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the risk of sounding overly effusive, I think this book is an achievement on more than one level. I've read every Hollywood novel that's come out in recent years, and I have been disappointed across the board. I think Specktor succeeds where so many other quite famous novelists have failed in that he has created characters who are so real and imperfect and fascinating, that the fabulous Hollywood details he weaves into the story are icing, rather than ways for an author to show what an insider he is. The story of agent Beau Rosenwald, his colleagues, his sons and his closest colleague's son, this novel is a lesson in writing character. The men in this book are so acutely drawn, and I wonder at the effort on Specktor's part to make their inner workings feel so natural, so effortless. My third comment is about technique. Although the book is a first-person story, it shifts in and out of an omniscient POV. In this respect, the book mirrors life -- no matter what goes on around us, it can only ever be our own personal story, known from our point of view. We interpret, we shape, and the story becomes concrete, a part of our reality, whether or not we have gotten it right or wrong. I admire Specktor's ability to slide around in POVs and yet somehow leave me at the end feeling that what I know is simply one man's version of a story. The reason I am giving this book 4 stars is for me it has a few flaws ... though in a way, the flaws feel essential since the book's key player manages to build a rich life stair-stepped with triumphs not on his strengths, but on his flaws. The book is very raw at times, so it might not be for everyone, but I highly recommend it.

[Dan Pierce · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am surprised at how many positive reviews there are about this book. I really didn't like it and many times thought about not even finishing it but kept reading in the hope that something interesting would happen. First, I have trouble with the narrator being a character in the book and omniscient. A character telling you a story that he could never know doesn't work for me. Especially when he spends most of the book confused about what is going on. But then reveals the innermost thoughts of someone he barely knew. Who is dead. But get past all that and it's still a boring story with unlikable characters that I couldn't have cared less about. Ridiculous name dropping. People have compared this to the TV show Entourage. Puhlease. Nowhere near. I was glad to be finished with it.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book kept foreshadowing dramatic moments that never really eventuated, or if they did they were underwhelming. We are instructed what we should think about the characters rather than given the chance to do that ourselves through observing their actions. It was all a little too earnest, taking its ‘tragedy’ way too seriously and trying hard to be some kind of epic morality, or amorality, tale. The kids were b-grade Easton Ellis characters. Also way too long and I didn’t care a speck for any character and their spoiled bullshit uninteresting lives. At least liven things up with some quality debauchery. This thing needed some extreme editing.

[Hannah.kaufmangmail.com · Rating 2 out of 5]

A massive undertaking, this 446 page novel is in need of several more revisions and a good editor. The characters were not flushed out; the plots were boring and disjointed. It was obvious that in the mind of Matthew Spektor, his narrator was saying something important about LA and life, but that was not what he put down on the page. Don't waste your time with this amateur novel.

[Brandice · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little while to get into this book - I wasn't sure where the story was going at first but once I got into it, I was hooked. If 3.5 stars were an option that's what I would've gone with. I really enjoyed the way the story was written - the character's narration as well as the language. It was good, definitely glad I read it.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got into this one a bit more than I thought I would. It's a good story with meaty characters and I enjoyed reading. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had the normal American obsession with Hollywood, but I still liked the book even without having that.

[Breann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long. Plodding. At times interesting but by no means as page turner. Picks up in the last 50 pages if you make it that far. Probably of greatest interest to LA natives or fans of Entourage.

[J.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most impressive aspect of this one is how sprawling the size of the narrative is, yet how honest and personable the story is at its roots. A great read.

[Glen Helfand · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Business is a lineage, and a literary one. It's all the inherited drama of parents who work in movies. It's an LA story, of ups and downs and tragedies. "American Dream Machine" roots its Hollywood tale in a talent agency and the roller coaster life of the narrator's father, Beau Rosenwald, an overweight guy (we're constantly reminded) with charisma and a streak of self-destructive mental illness. This is a literary yarn, a trajectory of rises, falls, plateaus, marriages, secret lives, secret children, ODs, generations. . . . There is a lot here, and Specktor, who wrote the much more effective memoir, "Always Crashing in the Same Car," writes of the mishegas with richness. But the novel bounces back and forth in time and in characters (of which there are many). The fact that the narrator takes a kind of backseat while writing of events with such detail doesn't entirely help keep an investment in the narrative. But it does provide insight into the workings of the industry, though as a novel, its scope is way too wide to really resonate.

[f · Rating 4 out of 5]

I lovedddd this novel. Well written, great characters, and overall an enchanting and engaging story. Also I just love to read about Los Angeles so maybe I am biased (but even if you’re not invested in LA it’s still great). Yes, the backdrop is the movie industry over decades but touches upon themes of passion, friendship, family, coming of age and really so much more that the author brings about in sometimes subtle, but also sometimes obvious ways. Not about the movies, but the friends they made along the way! Honestly it was like The Last Tycoon if that was completed and easier to read and spanned over a longer period of time. It was a saga fr but I would read again (the highest compliment). I’ll be thinking about American Dream Machine for a long time.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to like this a lot more but the story was meandering and the character development a little lacking. It’s not a great Hollywood epic but there were still a few brilliant moments. I did appreciate the focus on the later decades of Hollywood production (1970s-2000s) as opposed to the studio era or the 60s. Refreshing and different.

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is incredibly well written. However, it is far too long, with transitions too confusing, and very slow character movement/development. The protagonist is unremarkable, and the other characters are rather unlikeable. For the most part, the time periods and events bleed into each other to create a mundane, swampy whatever.

[Allison Bricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book that I finished before going on the trip to visit my mom while Gary went to see the total solar eclipse. The book doesn't compare to a visit with a parent (or seeing an eclipse, I'm sure), but it was pretty good!

[Steven Felicelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was about halfway through this tome I was sure to like before I realized there was absolutely nothing in it and didn't seem to be anything en route. It made me angry to have wasted that much reading time on it.

[KAY · Rating 5 out of 5]

a way with words

A beautifully written fictionalized history of the business of Los Angeles and how it’s influence makes, breaks and shapes. A story of fathers, sons and how history is never really…history.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring read for artist trying to make it in the current world. Follows likable characters from their childhood to a successful adulthood. But it shows that success isn't all we need and that the past can haunt us forever

[Margaret Fullarton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was brilliant and beautifully written and of course, of great interest to any of us saturated with the fervour of Hollywood!

[Ali LaBelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept reading in hopes it would get better and it just did not.

[David Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

An elegiac American epic, moving, tender, strange, funny -- great!

[Jenna Vidal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would have been engaing but too crude for my taste and I did not feel it would get any better. There is a way to say things without saying them. Abadoned.

[Alaina]

rtc

[Amberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started and finished date - 01.04.25 to 03.04.25.
My rating - Three Stars.
I found this book was okay read but I didn't love it and I found is bit boring also I found the cover of book to be average. This book reminds me of wolf of wall street. The atmosphere was pretty good and the paced of plot was bit too slow for my liking also the plot dragged a little bit. I didn't like the the characters and I found it hard to connect to the characters.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This big chunk of a novel is about many things. Most obviously it is about Hollywood, specifically about talent agent Beau Rosenwald, who rises to power alongside his friend Williams Farquarsen. Together they build a successful agency which they call American Dream Machine.

It is also about the "American Dream." Rosenwald, son of a plumber from a New York City borough, is the epitome of the self-made man. Of course he has a fatal flaw or two and eventually succumbs to them but not without a fight.

Then it is about three young men, the sons of Beau and Williams, their misspent youths, their wasted, stoned, wild days and nights on the streets, in the canyons, cruising the hoods, the bars, and the beaches of Los Angeles. These are troubled boys in the special way that kids of parents in "the business" as we call it here, are uniquely troubled. Nate, illegitimate son of Beau, narrates and spends his life seeking love and recognition from his father.

If all of that isn't enough, there is a mystery surrounding Beau's partner Williams. Nate finally solves it in the final chapters, but the effects of the mystery are more interesting than the reveal.

I can't say I loved the book but I liked it for many reasons. Despite its tawdry subject, Matthew Specktor is clearly well read in literature, writes with great style and exhibits a delicious love/hate for Hollywood and Los Angeles that permeates his tale. I would go so far as proclaiming him a Saul Bellow for the 21st century. But John Fante, Raymond Chandler and others make their presence felt like ghosts in dark alleys.

American Dream Machine is long, it meanders, in a way it is a man's book. But by the end I didn't want to leave the world of those boys now become men. It was like when I go on a trip. It is a relief to get away from this insane city but I am always so happy to get back.

[Ross McMeekin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books narrated by characters both sharp and forgiving. I’m into worlds drawn up with enough complexity for them to feel alive. I dig characters that are strange, contradictory, and passionate enough to feel human. Matthew Specktor's book about Los Angeles that has all of that. To me this is even more impressive, seeing as LA's such difficult place to write about without evoking the ghosts of great novels past, everyone’s preconceived notions of the place, etc. It's hard to get people to empathize with a group of folks (Hollywood, in particular) everyone so loves to dismiss. But these characters are big and bright and messy and real and original.

As you'd expect, there's some big personalities here—particularly Beau Rosenwald—but it’s Nate, the narrator, to whom I really became attached. Throughout these pages he’s searching for the truth about people and the truth about himself and his identity, and he does it with heart and intelligence…many of the characters around him are in the business of creating big, flat personas for themselves, but Nate works to see through it, for better and sometimes for worse.

I've been thinking a lot about how characters communicate in contemporary fiction, and one of the things I'll take away from this book is how to better use gesture. Dialogue, silence, subtextual passive aggression…these work well, but I loved how these characters are not afraid to make a scene in order to express themselves. I won't give anything away, but there's some pretty memorable dramatic gestures in this book that'll stick with me, expressing everything from triumph to disgust to sorrow.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really a 3.5 stars. I think if I lived in LA or had more of an interest in Hollywood - the life of agents, actors, directors - then I would have liked it more. There is a lot of great writing and an interesting POV and structure. I don't think I've read many books with this type of narrator - I don't know what it's called officially, but one of the characters in the story is omniscient. 3rd person omniscient? It seems tricky to pull that off, but it works great here. The writer is also good at weaving in suspense and foreshadowing, maybe a bit heavy-handed about it in fact, but it kept me interested. I had a few problems with this long book that kept me from loving it. It tells the life story of three boys, men in the present day, who grow up together because of the relationship between their larger-than-life agent fathers. However, while throughout the book there is constant talk about how close they are, there aren't many scenes where they actually speak to each other. And maybe that is on purpose because kids can be best friends and never really say anything to each other, but it makes it hard to believe in the relationships, especially once they are adults. I also think the ending is weak and goes on maybe 50 pages too long. And then the cute meet at the very end?? Why? That made it feel like the writer was picturing the movie version ending, which is also maybe on purpose, since the narrator is a script writer. I could definitely see this being made into a movie.