The Celebrity

by Laura Z. Hobson

A struggling author’s unexpected success sparks a family conflict in this New York Times –bestselling novel by the author of Gentleman’s Agreement .   For most of his career as a novelist, Gregory Johns has toiled in relative obscurity. His books have sold modestly, and he lives comfortably enough in the suburbs with his wife and daughter. He leaves the grand gestures and extravagant parties to his more expansive brother, Thornton, an insurance salesman who moonlights as Gregory’s literary agent.
When Gregory’s latest book is unexpectedly selected for a notable prize, the brothers suddenly find themselves at the center of a publicity frenzy. With talk of a movie deal in the air, Gregory moves out to California—but it’s Thorn who really rises to the occasion, thriving on and encouraging the attention, while Gregory toils away dutifully at scripts and rewrites. At last, Thorn feels he is in his element—but what happens when the brothers’ fifteen minutes are up?

Genres: Fiction

383 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Laura Z. Hobson (1900–1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. The daughter of Jewish immigrants, she is best known for her novels Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), which deals with anti-Semitism in postwar America, and Consenting Adult (1975), about a mother coming to terms with her son’s homosexuality, which was based upon her experiences with her own son. Hobson died in New York City in 1986.

Reviews

[Robert Wechsler]

From reading the first half of this novel, it’s clear that Hobson was a first-rate mainstream novelist and deserving of more attention today. Her prose is excellent, she’s witty and satirical, and she writes good dialogue.

The two problems with this novel, for me, and the reasons I put it down midway, are: (1) There’s too much of it. It just goes on and on, one scene to the next, most of them longer than they should be. And many should have been left out entirely. A good editor could have turned this into a classic satire on the entertainment industry and the effects of celebrity.

(2) Hobson states too many things outright, almost lecturing instead of letting her ideas come out as the novel progresses. This can work well in a more essayistic novel, but not in one as conventional as this.

Many, if not most, readers probably won't be bothered by what I see as problems. Fans of the American satirical novel should especially give this a look.