CLIMBING IN HEELS

A Jewish girl from the suburbs of Los Angeles relentlessly pursues her dream of becoming a top movie agent in this not-quite roman à clef.

Like many pieces of storytelling these days, this book begins with a death, the circumstances of which are withheld. The deceased is Beanie Rosen, age 35, “the most powerful agent in Hollywood.” The first chapter lays out how Beanie rose through the impossible muck of the male-dominated industry with two women at her side, but at the moment of her death in 1995, these former roommates are no longer friends. What happened? For the next several chapters, the viewpoint alternates among the three: Beanie; Ella Gaddy, the free-spirited daughter of a traditional Southern family; and Mercedes Baxter, an Englishwoman on the make. None come from happy homes and all have interesting, specific beginnings. But once they all end up at the fictional Sylvan Light agency, the story mostly focuses on Beanie, with Ella being her support and Mercedes her enemy—the premise of the first chapter belied by the swiftness of Mercedes’ heel turn. It’s a shame to lose the two other perspectives, which give the story some roundness. But Beanie is smart, tenacious, and fun to watch. She’s a company girl to a fault and never admits defeat, even when everything is against her (and everything frequently is). Far too much is made of her zaftig body type, and readers should also note that sexual assault is de rigueur at Sylvan Light. The heart of the book, though, is gossip: agent politics and dirty dealings, actor name-drops, affairs left and right, power and the power-hungry.

Overstuffed but juicy.