High Concepts: A Hollywood Nightmare

by Daniel McInerny

Donald P. Wirt, PhD, is a young, obtuse professor of philosophy who is mistakenly fired for “unprofessional and unethical conduct” at a professional ethics conference. But his luck changes when an affluent couple hires him to be a private tutor to their son, Miles, a brilliant high school junior who, rather than prepping for the SAT, spends his nights writing slasher film scripts and pitching Hollywood prodcos under the nom de théâtre, “Donnie Percival.” When one of those prodcos surprisingly requests an actual meeting in L.A., Miles fears he will lose the deal if he’s discovered to be only a pimply youth of sixteen. So in return for a share of the payout, he sends Donald in his place--in the guise of “Donnie Percival.”

Yet almost as soon as his plane lands at LAX, Donald discovers that “Donnie Percival” has a life of his own. Hardly aware of what is happening to him, he is quickly entangled in a cutthroat world of warring producers, ferocious celebrity pets, and a ruthless former teen queen looking for a reboot as a serious actress.

As the clueless Donald becomes the hottest scribe in Hollywood, the burning question emerges: how hot can “Donnie Percival” become before Donald himself goes up in flames?

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2012

About the author

Daniel McInerny is the author of Christ-haunted, darkly comic fiction. His novel, THE GOOD DEATH OF KATE MONTCLAIR, will appear from Chrism Press in March 2023.

He is also the author of the comic thriller, HIGH CONCEPTS: A HOLLYWOOD NIGHTMARE, as well as the humorous Kingdom of Patria series for middle grade readers.

Subscribe to Daniel's Substack, "Daniel McInerny's Studio Stories," at danielmcinerny.substack.com.

And find out more about Daniel's work at danielmcinerny.studio.

Reviews

[Jon Finkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not great

McInerny strikes me as an equal opportunity satirist, taking shots at just about everything he comes across in his writing. It can get a bit tiresome.