Tolkin, Michael. The player, New York : Atlantic Monthly, 1988.

This satiric novel is essentially an exploration into a man's skewered psyche.  Along the way author Michael Tolkin enjoys taking Hollywood apart...folly by folly.  A portrait of Tinseltown emerges and one that is very dark.  Griffin Mills, a top studio executive - a player indeed - finds himself stalked by a disgruntled screenwriter and is soon caught in a web that results in murder.

The noir aspect of The Player is defined by interior monologues, a staple of Hollywood B-movies.  But this book is all class with an intriguing plot and well drawn characters. 

As so often happens, Tolkin was invited to adapt The Player for the screen.  Robert Altman directed and a who's-who's cast of stars ensured a world-wide hit in 1992.

Tolkin continues to write.  A sequel, Return of the Player, was published in 2006.  It has yet to be filmed.

Didion, Joan. Play it as it lays, New York : Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1970.

This gripping novel from the prolific Joan Didion shot straight to the the bestseller lists in 1970.  At the time it was groundbreaking in its depiction of sexuality, psychiatry - from a women's point of view.  The themes and characters can be seen as emblematic of the sixties and the groundswell movements of feminism and sexual freedom.

But unlike Valley of the Dolls, Didion is at pains to point out truths and avoids so-called Hollywood glamour and titillating her readers.

Schulberg, Budd. What makes Sammy run?, New York : Random House, 1952.

This novel written in 1941 is generally considered to be the Novel about Hollywood, and by extension Los Angeles.  After all Hollywood is a factory town and its product...cinema and television.

Schulberg was born into the movie business.  His father was a film producer.  It has been suggested that the Sammy of the novel (Sammy Glick) is a portrait of Schulberg's father.  Either way, there is a deeply felt tone to the writing of this very serious novel. 

The reason for its enduring fame rests on gripping story elements and a no-holds approach to revealing the pitfalls of the studio system.  The book has had a number of television adaptations, and was turned into a musical.

VIDEO: Bette Davis refers to the the best book ever written about Hollywood...amongst other things..

Isherwood, Christopher. Bucknell, Katherine (ed.) Liberation Dairies volume three: 1970 - 1983, London : Chatto and Windus, 2012.

The final instalment in the trilogy that is the Isherwood dairies.

The three volumes in toto add up to roughly 2,500 pages. 

The triumph of these fascinating memoirs, aside from their emotional honesty, wit and historical interest, lies as much with Katherine Bucknell - as with the author himself.  For Bucknell proves to be an empathetic editor as well as a painstaking one.  Her introductions to each volume are a joy to read.

We follow Isherwood through the years, and become intimate eavesdroppers into his life as a screenwriter.  We are also witness to his enduring relationship with Don Bachardy and his many Hollywood friends.  Isherwood realised that the Diaries would be published after his death.  Indeed they do tell-all.  Yet some identities remain censored, thirty years on. 

VIDEO: Christoper and Don (trailer)

Mamet, David. Speed-the-plow, London : Methuen, 2002.

It is a pleasure to include a play in this blog.  Speed-the-Plow is usually described as a black comedy, a genre of dramatic literature that Mamet has made his own.  It's interesting to see how one of America's leading playwrights interprets Hollywood; and here he explores the art of the movie deal, the crass shenanigans of movie executives and the eternal dilemma of art versus commerce.  Speed-the-Plow, which has only three characters, premiered in 1988 on Broadway.  The production gained immense publicity because one of the characters - Karen - was performed by pop singer, Madonna.

This is a play of snappy one-liners yet the dialogue reveals a sub text of angst and corruption of the soul.

In truth, the play did not set the world alight but nor did the play diminish its author's  reputation. Mamet (born 1947) is regarded as one of America's elite playwrights: his output has been prolific and he writes for both stage and screen.  One of his most famous plays is Glengarry Glen Ross, which was awarded the Pulitzer prize for Drama in 1984 and filmed in 1992  Speed-the-Plow has yet to be adapted for the screen.

Isherwood, Christopher. A single man, London : Methuen, 1965.

This is Christopher Isherwood's most autobiographical novel.  He casts himself as the protagonist, George, a university professor mourning the death of his male lover, Jim, and suffering much more than a mid-life crisis.

The appeal of the book lies in its emotional honesty and realism as George interacts with neighbours, students, friends and a possible new lover, a man nearly thirty years junior.  Isherwood has frozen a moment in time.  

Colin Firth won a Best Actor Oscar for his devastating performance as George in the movie version of 2010.

Collins, Jackie. Hollywood wives, New York : Simon and Schuster, 1983.

Jackie Collins broke into the big time with this unashamedly trashy novel.  To date it remains her biggest success...Hollywood Wives appeals to those readers who are interested in sex, fame and money, in other words just about everyone.

If the The Loved One is high literature then Collins's blockbuster is low literature.  Moreover, like Waugh, she knows her territory, makes her points and takes no prisoners.  This is a portrait of Reagan's America and a gallery of tacky charcters indulging in 1980s materialism, decadence and success-at-any price overkill in Tinseltown.

The prose style is uncomplicated which translates as anyone with a low reading ability can follow the story.  Expletives, drug references crime and lots of sex are the author's stock-in-trade.  It could be argued that Collins is the female Harold Robbins, who veered even more into the pornographic.

Hollywood Wives evolved into a mega mini series and was a ratings smash.  Collins has just published her 33rd novel.