Yeah, Yeah The Day Of The Locusts
L, a reader, writes: "No mention of N. West? C’mon. He created Homer Simpson, fer Chrissakes. One of the U.S.’s most cheerful writers ever. And it’s obligatory to mention him when the words Hollywood and satire are knocking around anywhere near one another."
Well, you must excuse me. I'm very distracted by the amazing Phoenix Suns right now and I didn't give a full dissertation on the Bruce Wagner book and the history of Hollywood satire. Of course I'm Losing You isn't the book Day Of The Locusts was. Wagner is very insider-y, whereas West at least adopted the pose of the outsider. There is no sense of any world outside Wagner's Hollywood, whereas West focuses more on the disastrous effects Hollywood culture wreaks on the rubes of the Heartland. Then again, West didn't have circuit parties and the porn industry in his arsenal. Wagner covers a lot of ground with wit and style, but no, I don't think his book will be taught, if that matters.
Where I live, probably two out of five parents would pull their kids out of school if the school assigned that book. My approach would be different. I would just say, you like gay satire, son? Here's a little book called Myra Breckenridge. Check out this Edmund White omnibus, and then the Oscar Wilde one after that. Let me tell you, that kid had better appreciate all the gay satire to which I'm gonna expose him.