Scatter the Stars

by Di Morrissey

A mesmerising novel of the film industry and one man's life that charts a path for all of us, f rom Australia's favourite storyteller with new novel Before the Storm out now.Larrikin Australian actor Randy Storm had it all. Swept up by Hollywood in the 1950s, he had the looks, charm and talent to take on the world. But by the 1990s he's forgotten, burned out after a life of movie star excess.When producer Michael Matthews meets the once great Randy Storm, he is surprised to find a man who is at peace with himself. Both he and researcher Janie Callendar set out to discover the source of this inner peace. Meanwhile his agent Ariel Margoles finds out that Australia's world-acclaimed film director Patricia Jordan is making the hottest Hollywood film of the year and she sees a chance for Randy to be a star once more.But just as Randy is about to reach his pinnacle, a secret from his past threatens to bring down his greatest triumph...

Genres: Audiobook

540 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

Di Morrissey (born 18 March 1943 in Wingham, New South Wales) is one of Australia's most popular female novelists. She grew up in the remote surrounds of Pittwater, north of Sydney, Australia.

Growing up she counted famous Australian actor Chips Rafferty as a close mentor and friend who helped provide for her and her mother after the death of her father as a child, sending them overseas to California to live with family.

In her later years, Di went on to become a journalist on London's Fleet Street, and worked for CBS in Honolulu, where she lived with her husband who was in the foreign service, and even had a small role in the series Hawaii Five-0, a guest role in season three, episode seven, 1970 starring as 'Alicia Anderson'.

After moving back to Australia, Di published her first book 'Heart of the Dreaming' which instantly became a bestseller. Since then Di has published another 17 bestsellers, her latest being 'The Silent Country'.

Reviews

[Suz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I love this book! I’d read it again. I mustn’t liked Di’s early works.

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining!

Listened to the audio via the BorrowBox app
Published by Bolinda audio
Narrated by Kate Hood
Duration: 17 hrs, 59 min. 1.50x Speed

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually don't mind Di Morrissey but I found this one not as good as some of her others. This one is centred around an aging Australian star. It goes from Australia to PNG, then to Hollywood.

While I found the start fairly interesting and the book was fairly entertaining there were a few parts of the book that I really struggled to get past:
- There was the Indian woman he had an affair with in his youth which we never learnt anything more about.
- The wrap up of the PNG part of his life near the end of the book seemed to be a bit rushed given the effort put into developing the importance of that area of his life at the start of the book.
- What happened to that actress friend that witnessed his threesome? We never saw her again despite a lot of effort being put into building that friendship.
- The final challenge Randy had to face at the end of the book seemed to come from nowhere, and not in a good "wow that is an amazing plot twist" kind of way.

Despite its flaws it is fairly entertaining. If you are looking for something that is a fairly easy read, this might be for you.

[Niamh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Di's writing style but nope didn't like this at all, some great parts, great characters but too many unneeded off the point situations, took the whole book for it to be brought together - the whole book ! Not in a good way. Not nearly as good as some of her others.

[Marice Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars may be a bit on the low side but the book really was just OK for me. The book just didn't grip me early on and I found myself waiting to be pulled into the story and it wasn't until about 1/2 way through that I realised this wasn't happening. I persevered to the end and was left a bit flat. The ending was rather predictable.

There were some sad moments, the characters were often interesting but I never felt you really got gripped by any one of them. Randy was a bit of a pain in the neck. I found myself more drawn to the characters of Michael and Janie but then would lose the interest as the story changed again to focus on others.

[Paul McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of the books by this author are story that are told in the past as well as the present. They are also epic type stories. This is about an Australian actor who goes on to make it big in Hollywood but loses everything. And hope he gets his life back.
This I think in many ways is one of the authors best and certainly most relatable books.
This really is a fantastic story.

[Carrie Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes approximately forever to get "into" the story. It jumps around a lot and takes a while for the threads to come together. Multiple interesting characters are introduced then disappear. The core plot is fairly good and a different edit would improve the story. One of those books that doesn't need to be as long as it is.

[Chiro Pipashito T H · Rating 1 out of 5]

Di Morrissey describes in detail the life of a hollywood movie star of Australian heritage.

Everyone knows the movie stars have extra-ordinary lives but given that people read about them all the time, this fiction was not very engaging or spellbinding.

[Juanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cracker of a story by Di, who is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors.

[Pauline Dawney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Wiebke Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

You really have to read/listen to to very end in order to appreciate it!

[Zed · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't get into this one.

[Jo :: The Country Book Nerd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Di's books but I couldn't get into this one.

[Dzintra aka Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like Di's books...full of relationships and how people are with each other...learning from each other...relating with one another...there is always something to learn from Di's books!!!

[Winston Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enthralling novel well written. Touched the heart. Well written.

[Marion Brownlee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fair