The Negative

by Michael Covino

An expose of the film industry.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 1993

Reviews

[Chee-sen Wirth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am kind of bummed I don't know where my copy went. When I read this back in the mid-1990's, I was still hoping to be a filmmaker, so the premise on the dust jacket really appealed to me. Jump ahead to present day, I still think about this book from time to time. The other comments on this book are right: the writing is not fantastic, but for a first novel, it's just fine. And the idea is pretty cool. I remember after I read it I wanted to go visit San Francisco. It would have been an interesting gritty film, and I even remember a movie called "The Shot" coming out in a few theaters that pretty much had the same story (although I don't think either creators were aware of their respective projects). There was even a movie titled "An Alan Smithee Film" that parodied Hollywood and had a similar outcome where the director tried to hijack his own film's negative. I wonder what happened to this author? I would another one of his books. Plus, a 19-year hiatus (if something came out today) would be very interesting! Be cool to see how his style has changed (or not). And what kind of story he'd have to tell.

[Carla Remy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was occasional pretty good writing (mixed with some not as good), some ambitious intellectual touches. But all the characters were abhorrently unlikable. There was no attempt to make them likable. They were assholes. This might be okay for a couple hours in a movie but not in a long book. Killed it. I can excuse the uneven writing because it was his first novel. There's no excuse for the characters.