SILVER LAKE

A young Canadian writer’s adventures in the movie business.

The third of Pugsley’s projected five autobiographical novels about Aubrey McKee finds the Nova Scotia native departing Canada in the early 2000s for the “fascinating, inspiring, bizarre” place that is Hollywood. This entry comprises four loosely connected sections that follow Aubrey’s humble but steady rise in the entertainment industry with insight and humor. The opening section, “Twinkle Pictures,” details his decision to turn down an offer to work as assistant to Twinkle Zitner, a brash, savvy Canadian producer of low-budget films. “Weeknights With Peter Peters” provides an often hilarious glimpse inside the writers room of a late-night talk show hosted by a former NHL player. In “Silver Lake,” Aubrey lands a job with an Oscar-winning producer who offers him the opportunity to turn a stage play he’d written into a feature film. This section also traces the path of his tempestuous affair with former Toronto waitress and rising movie star Poppy Price—“a compelling mix of intuition and nervousness”—and offers a sympathetic portrait of what happens to an ordinary mortal when he flies too close to the celebrity sun. In “Cinema,” Aubrey recalls the experience of directing his first feature film under Twinkle’s tutelage as he fights self-doubt and struggles against a minimal budget, impossibly tight shooting schedule, and temperamental female lead to realize his artistic vision. Pugsley’s tone throughout is wry and self-aware, the ideal combination for capturing Aubrey’s mix of ambition and angst. Pugsley’s nearly three decades of experience in film and television lend the novel a healthy dose of realism. For anyone who’s followed Aubrey’s story in Aubrey McKee (2020) and The Education of Aubrey McKee (2024), this is an entertaining step forward, and for those new to his journey, it will almost certainly provide encouragement to hop on for the rest of the ride.

A smart, witty Hollywood tale.