AIDA LIBIDO: WHAT BECOMES A FELON MOST?

A sequel continues the fictional, comic adventures of Hollywood’s most salacious star.

Things had been going so well for Aida Libido. The former teenage circus performer-turned- award-winning Hollywood actor and musician had finally found the perfect husband, Count Jose Delgado. But her dashing South American count turned out to be a thief and killer, and swindled poor Aida out of her fortune. To make matters worse, when Jose was found dead in a motel room with alarming objects inserted in his orifices, Aida was arrested for his murder. Now she’s in prison, guarding herself against unwanted attention with a shiv made from a melted toothbrush. Luckily, real-life attorney Gloria Allred shows up to help Aida beat the charge. Out on bail, her husband buried, and her defense formulated, Aida starts scheduling meetings and planning her big comeback. But the murder accusation proves harder to shake than she thought, and there’s still the matter of making sure she wins her trial. Still, if anyone can claw her way back from ignominy—as well as navigate adventures with jihadist militants, the Nobel Prize Committee, and a very gay fourth husband—it’s Aida. In this novel, Easton’s prose, as narrated by Aida, is theatrical and wry. The episodic plot mostly serves as a vehicle for Aida to discuss her many over-the-top encounters with real-life celebrities. Here, she recalls a conversation from a memorable outing with actor Aziz Ansari: “Oh, Aziz! You thought this was a date!...(could you get your hand out from under my skirt, please?)...Thank you, dear….No, I just agreed to come…(Please, dear, it’s hard to concentrate with your tongue in my ear)…I’m just here because I lost a bet with Amy Poehler.” The humor tends toward the shocking and transgressive—unlikely sex acts, racial stereotypes, scatological everything—though it’s not often laugh-out-loud funny. Over time, the constant joking actually becomes somewhat abrasive, particularly given the low stakes of the plot.

An amusing, discursive, gleefully crude tale that skewers celebrity culture.