The Manhattan Beach Project
A Novel

This fast-paced satire of reality television in the time of endless wars in the Middle East is on the mark with many of its characters and situations. At times it will make a reader laugh out loud. Unfortunately, it feels like a book very much of its time. In the 2020s the humor falls a bit flat. A......more

A fun little read and just what I needed after the heavy non-fiction I had just finished. No National Book awards here, but a crazy story and a few laugh out loud moments.......more

Interesting book about a young woman growing up from the 30's to 40's. Her father is semi'mafia. She has a sickly sister. The young woman becomes a diver during WWII. She struggles with her identity. There are smart twists and interesting characters. The story was engaging but there were some parts......more

Spoof of reality shows - down-and-out producer goes to Uzbekistan to film a reality show based on a warlord, his family, and entourage. Things go badly when the producer and his interpreter decide to spice things up by 'translating' what the characters are saying with their own invented dialog.......more

Charlie is a washed out Hollywood producer sinking into debt with no way out. Then a mysterious man shows up at his Debtor's Anonymous meeting with an offer he can't refuse. Soon Charlie is deeply mired in a reality show about an Uzbek warlord, madly dodging bullets and tweaking subtitles, trying to......more