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The Girl From Hollywood
Life at the Pennington's Rancho del Granado was hard, but it was a good life, far removed from the unnatural pressures and dangers of the big city. It was, that is, until the desperate and evil ambitions of a powerful Hollywood drug pusher threatened the very foundations of the Pennington family.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1923
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269 people want to read
About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,910 books2,739 followersEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 30, 2018
Other resource books on Hollywood during the 1920s cited this book by Burroughs and said it was not a particularly good book. Having read it myself, allow me to confirm: it is not a good book. It's essentially a morality tale/crime novel, with everything portrayed in stark black and white. To wit: Hollywood is evil. If young women go to Hollywood, they will be forced to remove their clothing and degrade themselves, and will become drug addicts. Everyone who knows and loves them will suffer because of this (They will be imprisoned! Raped! Attempt suicide! Go insane!). All Mexicans in the book are murderers and would-be rapists. However, the country life is good and pure. A week of horseriding in the country will cure prolonged addictions to cocaine and morphine!
My eyes rolled so much as I read, it's a wonder they didn't escape my skull. This is such a heavy-handed morality soap opera. I read it hoping for more insights into Hollywood in the early 1920s, but the actual city and industry barely figured---Hollywood is almost solely present as a symbol, and a very lewd, evil symbol at that. The information I did glean was about drug use at the time--the slang terms, how it was dosed, what it cost, etc--so it wasn't a completely useless read. I'm very glad I acquired the book as a free legal download through Google Books.
My eyes rolled so much as I read, it's a wonder they didn't escape my skull. This is such a heavy-handed morality soap opera. I read it hoping for more insights into Hollywood in the early 1920s, but the actual city and industry barely figured---Hollywood is almost solely present as a symbol, and a very lewd, evil symbol at that. The information I did glean was about drug use at the time--the slang terms, how it was dosed, what it cost, etc--so it wasn't a completely useless read. I'm very glad I acquired the book as a free legal download through Google Books.
July 9, 2019
Not quite a western. It takes place in the 1920s, but much of it is set in a western landscape and involves many of the tropes of westerns. The basic idea is that of a very fine western family whose lives become entangled with Hollywood types. Some of these are basically good and recover from their evil natures while others never do. As is typical of ERB's work, there are a lot of coincidences that help the plot along, and there's actually very little action compared to his typical story. However, the sheer narrative drive that ERB was able to bring to his tales keeps you reading. I finished it in one day, if not quite one sitting. Not my favorite work by him by far, but still enjoyable.
August 23, 2015
Edgar Rice Burroughs is best known, of course, for his heroic and science fiction series such as John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, and Tarzan but he also wrote a handful of contemporary novels. It’s tempting to classify “The Girl From Hollywood” as a historical novel because it takes place in 1922 during the days of prohibition and early Hollywood film making until one realizes it was written and published in serial form in Munsey’s Magazine that same year.
At its core, this is a crime novel involving the well-off Pennington family on their rural California ranch and a young Hollywood starlet who escapes the clutches of the casting couch and the stranglehold of cocaine and morphine abuse. Parts of it read like a western novel due to the ranch setting and reliance on horses for transportation there but there really are no traditional heroes here. There is murder, romance, tragedy, mistaken identities, and a last minute triumph. Hollywood hustlers come up against proud family tradition. If I didn’t know who the author was, I would not likely have guessed although there were glimpses of ERB’s style here and there.
An interesting factoid: in the biographical account of ERB’s life, Tarzan Forever: The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs the Creator of Tarzan, it is reported that the Pennington Ranch in this novel (called Rancho del Ganado), is identical to ERB’s actual California home, Tarzana at that time.
ERB was never as successful with his contemporary novels as his heroic fiction. Don’t expect the action and complex narratives of today’s thrillers but if you enjoy 1920s and 1930s crime novels, this is worth checking out.
At its core, this is a crime novel involving the well-off Pennington family on their rural California ranch and a young Hollywood starlet who escapes the clutches of the casting couch and the stranglehold of cocaine and morphine abuse. Parts of it read like a western novel due to the ranch setting and reliance on horses for transportation there but there really are no traditional heroes here. There is murder, romance, tragedy, mistaken identities, and a last minute triumph. Hollywood hustlers come up against proud family tradition. If I didn’t know who the author was, I would not likely have guessed although there were glimpses of ERB’s style here and there.
An interesting factoid: in the biographical account of ERB’s life, Tarzan Forever: The Life of Edgar Rice Burroughs the Creator of Tarzan, it is reported that the Pennington Ranch in this novel (called Rancho del Ganado), is identical to ERB’s actual California home, Tarzana at that time.
ERB was never as successful with his contemporary novels as his heroic fiction. Don’t expect the action and complex narratives of today’s thrillers but if you enjoy 1920s and 1930s crime novels, this is worth checking out.
May 22, 2021
When you read something by Edgar Rice Burroughs, even if it’s not Tarzan or science fiction, you know you’re in for a rough and tumble ride. Sex, Drugs, Bootlegging, Murder, Suicide, Prison–it’s all here, in 200 short pages. The plot centers on a Hollywood starlet trying to get away and make a new life for herself, and you can bet it won’t be easy. There are ranchers, rum runners, beautiful girls, and movie moguls, but these characters are so flat it’s hard to keep them straight. The action is non-stop, however, so who cares if you confuse one character with another? The bad people end up dead, and when the dust settles, the good people are all on top.
August 28, 2025
An interesting (fictional) story about addiction and crime in the early 19 hundreds.
According to legend the ranch described is ERB’s own ranch so no world-building needed.
Five stars for the story-telling.
According to legend the ranch described is ERB’s own ranch so no world-building needed.
Five stars for the story-telling.
June 22, 2020
This is a terrible book. Which is a shame since it didn't have to be. The subject is worthwhile but ERB is not the right guy to tackle it.
I struggled to find anyone likable in the story. Colonel Pennington, the head of the family, is a quiet and subtle tyrant. He is never belligerent, but he clearly represents the moral authority, and because he controls the purse strings, his is the line everyone must toe. Mrs Pennington exists only to echo her husband's sentiments. Their son Custer is an alcoholic with the ability to get drunk and not show it. He doesn't appear to believe in women having their own opinions. Daughter Eva is a ditzy airhead, completely useless, often annoying. If you pointed her in the direction of a cliff she would likely walk over the side unless someone stopped her. These are our heroes.
Mrs Evans is a clone of Mrs Pennington. Her son deals in illegal liquor and the daughter is a marginally talented actress who doesn't realize just how marginally talented she is.
Then there's the actress, Shannon. Shannon is a dope addict. She'll do anything to score a hit, that is anything but prostitute herself. Somehow that makes her redeemable.
The book contains many wonderful descriptions of the outdoor life and Burroughs handles them well. The problem is it's just too preachy and heavy-handed. Essentially, drugs & alcohol BAD… clean outdoor living GOOD. Which it is. I entirely agree. But the message is hammered at every page.
Worst of all, for an ERB novel, there's no action! That is, not enough to justify all the rest of what we're dragged through. I've no problem with ERB's modern-city life books. I enjoyed EFFICIENCY EXPERT, GIRL FROM FARRIS, OAKDALE AFFAIR, and all, but they had something happening. All we have here is people horseback riding or else taking hits. And again, ERB does a realistic job describing the addict's experience. It is just that everything is so black and white, while the virtuous Pennington family, bottom line, are a bunch of smug hypocrites.
I can't say for certain but I am fairy sure this is one work ERB imitator Otis Adelbert Kline chose not to rip off.
I struggled to find anyone likable in the story. Colonel Pennington, the head of the family, is a quiet and subtle tyrant. He is never belligerent, but he clearly represents the moral authority, and because he controls the purse strings, his is the line everyone must toe. Mrs Pennington exists only to echo her husband's sentiments. Their son Custer is an alcoholic with the ability to get drunk and not show it. He doesn't appear to believe in women having their own opinions. Daughter Eva is a ditzy airhead, completely useless, often annoying. If you pointed her in the direction of a cliff she would likely walk over the side unless someone stopped her. These are our heroes.
Mrs Evans is a clone of Mrs Pennington. Her son deals in illegal liquor and the daughter is a marginally talented actress who doesn't realize just how marginally talented she is.
Then there's the actress, Shannon. Shannon is a dope addict. She'll do anything to score a hit, that is anything but prostitute herself. Somehow that makes her redeemable.
The book contains many wonderful descriptions of the outdoor life and Burroughs handles them well. The problem is it's just too preachy and heavy-handed. Essentially, drugs & alcohol BAD… clean outdoor living GOOD. Which it is. I entirely agree. But the message is hammered at every page.
Worst of all, for an ERB novel, there's no action! That is, not enough to justify all the rest of what we're dragged through. I've no problem with ERB's modern-city life books. I enjoyed EFFICIENCY EXPERT, GIRL FROM FARRIS, OAKDALE AFFAIR, and all, but they had something happening. All we have here is people horseback riding or else taking hits. And again, ERB does a realistic job describing the addict's experience. It is just that everything is so black and white, while the virtuous Pennington family, bottom line, are a bunch of smug hypocrites.
I can't say for certain but I am fairy sure this is one work ERB imitator Otis Adelbert Kline chose not to rip off.
January 17, 2021
First serialized in Munsey's Magazine in 1922, "The Girl From Hollywood" was published in book form in 1923. And yes...this really is THE Edgar Rice Burroughs. What we have here is a crime novel set not just in Hollywood's film colony, but in the rural, agricultural San Fernando Valley of the 1920s. And what a surprise it is. Drugs, smuggling whiskey, and murder are all on display. I may be wrong, but I had a sense of the first impression of a hard-boiled detective novel at times. Although, there is no detective in the narrative. Burroughs' Hollywood/Los Angeles is filled with dualities that perhaps mirror the larger culture clash of post-WWI America. There was a tension between nostalgia for a more traditional Victorian set of values (order, restraint, paternalism) against the outright hedonism of the Jazz Age. Characters have to confront these dilemmas. The setting of urban (negative) vs. rural (positive) is here as well.
The depiction of early Hollywood's film business in regards to these dreams, aspirations, and ambitions of the novel's young women is a devastating and eerily relevant and contemporary one. Let me give you one quote about manipulation: "Added to these factors in the budding intimacy between the director and the extra girl was the factor which is always most potent in similar associations - the fear that the girl holds of offending a potential ally and the hope of propitiating a power in which lies the potential of success upon the screen." One hundred years before #MeToo and Burroughs gives us such characters. Altogether a surprisingly good book. Thanks to the "Los Angeles Review of Books" for re-issuing "The Girl from Hollywood."
The depiction of early Hollywood's film business in regards to these dreams, aspirations, and ambitions of the novel's young women is a devastating and eerily relevant and contemporary one. Let me give you one quote about manipulation: "Added to these factors in the budding intimacy between the director and the extra girl was the factor which is always most potent in similar associations - the fear that the girl holds of offending a potential ally and the hope of propitiating a power in which lies the potential of success upon the screen." One hundred years before #MeToo and Burroughs gives us such characters. Altogether a surprisingly good book. Thanks to the "Los Angeles Review of Books" for re-issuing "The Girl from Hollywood."
May 22, 2012
This is one of Edgar Rice Burroughs few contemporary novels. It makes interesting comments on prohibition, drug addiction, and early Hollywood. The ranch land that the characters ride around on, is now suburbia. It proves an interesting view into a world, that is no longer with us.
March 25, 2025
Wordy, Melodrama
I read this book as I was curious about the early film era and recognized Edgar Rice Burroughs from his other works.
His writing style can be wordy with the use of too many adjectives and adverbs, and one must have some knowledge of the era that he was writing about and from. This book requires reading between the lines, as much of the " debauchery " of the early 1920s cinema era couldn't have been published using more direct language as we use today. Just reading this book in public may have caused some to be scandalized, despite the fact that most of those characters in the book with " loose " morals, and indecent behavior have grim fates. The female protagonist, Shannon Burke aka Gaza de Lure overcomes much and seems to redeem herself.
However, one wonders, if there was a sequel, would the people living on the Ganado Ranch ever really recover from the intrusion of the Hollywood people and the no-good bootleggers and drug traffickers. Mr Burroughs wrote a melodrama that could be turned into a film now, more than a hundred years later, but a good screen writer would have much to do, to write a viable script.
I read this book as I was curious about the early film era and recognized Edgar Rice Burroughs from his other works.
His writing style can be wordy with the use of too many adjectives and adverbs, and one must have some knowledge of the era that he was writing about and from. This book requires reading between the lines, as much of the " debauchery " of the early 1920s cinema era couldn't have been published using more direct language as we use today. Just reading this book in public may have caused some to be scandalized, despite the fact that most of those characters in the book with " loose " morals, and indecent behavior have grim fates. The female protagonist, Shannon Burke aka Gaza de Lure overcomes much and seems to redeem herself.
However, one wonders, if there was a sequel, would the people living on the Ganado Ranch ever really recover from the intrusion of the Hollywood people and the no-good bootleggers and drug traffickers. Mr Burroughs wrote a melodrama that could be turned into a film now, more than a hundred years later, but a good screen writer would have much to do, to write a viable script.
April 5, 2018
This is a simple story of the quiet and fun filled life at the verdant Californian ranches that is disturbed by the influence of the big, bad city nearby and its restoration after some trials. The description of the beautiful landscapes and the life in the country is lively. The portrayal of Hollywood as a dangerous place for the innocent reflects the public opinion of the early twentieth century America. With a dose of romance, drama, crime, action and morals, this novel is a complete entertainment package, though a bit too simple for the modern reader.
August 3, 2025
I used to read Edgar Rice Burroughs when I was kid, and this was the first ERB novel I’ve read since the 1980s. Regarding the one-star reviews … meh. When I start reading a Burroughs novel I’m aware that I’m reading something that’s for all ages. I’m looking for a diversion, and I don’t object to the heroes being heroic, the villains being villainous, or to a lack of moral ambiguity. So with that in mind, The Girl From Hollywood was an enjoyable, straightforward western, set mostly on a ranch in Southern California. Don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed.
November 10, 2021
This is not your typical Edgar Rice Burroughs book. Tragedy and woe fill the pages of this tale about drugs, sex, and murder. Set in early 1920s Hollywood (though a contemporary story for the author) where it's great woes are conceived and nurtured and in the great open spaces outside of Los Angeles where those troubles threaten to encroach. But, it is still a Burroughs tale and there is still triumph to be had.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2022
I wish goodreads would create a half star option. This was 3.5 for me. I read this with its historical place in mind. As a serial from the 1920s it was a compelling read. Yes the dialogue is at time trite, but I kept picturing it as a movie to be watched on a Saturday afternoon. I absolutely kept picking it up to see what would happen next.
October 18, 2017
Edgar Rice Burroughs combines the Wild West with urban crime in this tale of drug addiction, whisky smuggling, the movie business and country living. It’s a sensational little page-turner, vividly brought to life. Melodramatic entertainment, now old-fashioned, but I enjoyed it immensely
November 6, 2019
A great story by ERB and one I had not read before! Set in the 1920's in the country outside LA it involves murder, drugs, desperados and the failings of human beings set against a western background. All in all, a classic Burroughs tale.
July 23, 2021
A good yarn. What's interesting is this was written in 1922 - yet the story could have been written last year. Hollywood corruption and exploitation is nothing new. I like ERB's style, you always care about the characters.
July 5, 2020
I read it because I had heard it was inspired by the murder of William Desmond Taylor....not so much
September 9, 2020
I loved the book. A great western. There were so many twists as the book goes on and I could not stop reading.
January 4, 2021
Love all the Adventure from Burroughs...
October 22, 2021
Cocaine is bad for you. Thats it! Not one of my favourite reads! SIGH
January 31, 2015
It's difficult to choose between 4 and 5 stars. I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. the only fault of the book is, actually, the end itself. I mean the last 4-5 lines. it seemed to me utterly stupid.
The plot is completely different from the average burroughs' novel. There are no Macho man, nor any woman to be saved (except one tiny part, but it's no big deal). Both the hero and heroine suffer from substance abuse.
The best character is Shannon Burke/ Gaza De Lure, which is in the end the only heroine of the book, she moves the plot, she makes it funny and enjoyable, she is the most sympathetic character that I have ever found in a Burroughs' Novel.
The plot is also more intricate than the other novels that the author wrote.
4 1/2 stars.
The plot is completely different from the average burroughs' novel. There are no Macho man, nor any woman to be saved (except one tiny part, but it's no big deal). Both the hero and heroine suffer from substance abuse.
The best character is Shannon Burke/ Gaza De Lure, which is in the end the only heroine of the book, she moves the plot, she makes it funny and enjoyable, she is the most sympathetic character that I have ever found in a Burroughs' Novel.
The plot is also more intricate than the other novels that the author wrote.
4 1/2 stars.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews