By Design

by Richard E. Grant

A Hollywood novel about Vyvian, interior designer to the stars; his “ sister” Marga, a supposedly deaf-mute masseuse; and “ Zeitgeist” , the biggest blockbuster ever made.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

261 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Richard Esterhuysen Grant.

Reviews

[Ewan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The scribblings of a lunatic who is desperately trying to mention all his Hollywood friends. Name drops here, name drops there. By the time you're through reading a literal list of actors and artists names (as Richard E. Grant so handily provides for three pages), you are at the end of the chapter and onto the production diary of fictional film, Zeitgeist. There is nothing smart about By Design, and if this is the design, then Grant has crafted a miserable experience on purpose. Dire at the best of times with its clunky dialogue screaming for some idle and half-hearted comparison to Withnail & I, the book never captures its audience with anything particularly interesting, unless reading endless lists of "this actor did this" and "look at how enviable you should be and how cool Hollywood is" are interesting.

[A.E. Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is no doubt that Richard E. Grant can write, and can do so with great fluidity and pace and intrigue and whatnot, but I didn't enjoy a moment of this book. Which surprised me a lot. But there it is. Everything and everyone was repulsive and I felt like I needed a shower afterwards.

In a certain sense, I feel like that might've been the point. In which case, gold star for success. But just the one out of five.

[Jackson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this was Grant's biography. Only realised that it was fictional after Googling unfamiliar names some fifty pages in. Even that didn't fully clear up the confusion, as the novel appears to have sunk without a trace of online presence. This is hardly surprising, as it's mainly dreadful. Schlocky and painfully unfunny satire, best avoided on the off chance that you come across it.

Purchased for $1.25, Good Sammy Op-Shop, Gosnells WA.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this, but... I think having watched documentaries presented by Grant I was expecting something a different. Nonetheless I enjoyed his take on the absurdities and insecurities of the Hollywood set, and apart from a few pages which seemed to be lists of food or people, it clipped along well.

[Roseb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was fine, but definitively not my thing.

[Harold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly, easy-reading Hollywood satire from the star of Withnail & I and *cough* Hudson Hawk. A fun little read, even if Grant could've leaned a bit harder into the snark.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw Richard E. Grant star in the wonderful 'Withnail & I' in a cinema in the backwater that was Newcastle circa 1988, when I first visited Australia as a student. It has since become a recognised cult classic - as has his autobiography 'With Nails'.

Apparently, this "novel" is an attempt to fictionalise all those great Hollywood experiences & stories that for 'legal reasons' he couldn't include in his autobio'.

I read this book on a flight from L.A to London in '99 so my recollection of its virtues might be askew, so I'll finish by recommending you to watch 'Withnail & I' and to read 'With Nails' and perhaps indulge Mr Grant with this particular offering . . .

[Biddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

fluidly written and gave a glimpse of the sleazy underbelly of the world of stardom and LA.