Chocolate Star - Hardcover

Copeland, Sheila

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312154933 ISBN 13: 9780312154936

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1997

Synopsis

A novel about young African-Americans in search of celebrity focuses on model-turned-singer Topaz Black, talented film director Gunther Lawrence, and top-notch basketball player Sean Ross as they each struggle with the price of success

About this title

About the Author:

Sheila Copeland is the founder and CEO of Populartis/Chocolate Star, a multifaceted production company.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Copeland debuts with three rags-to-riches journeys that even when combined make up little more than a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous episode. All three of the African-American protagonists here are flawed. Singer Topaz Black, who began as a model, is vain, rude, and greedy--not to mention having abandoned a hardworking husband and infant son in the blink of an eye for Hollywood and the high life. Film director Gunther Lawrence started out as a self-loathing black kid in a lily-white prep school; when he strikes it rich in Hollywood, he immediately makes a point of forgetting everyone who helped him along the way. NBA star Sean ``Sylk'' Ross, meanwhile, is meant to be the good guy, but his constant praying, do-gooding, and holier-than-thou moralizing make him, if anything, even less palatable than his co-stars, who are at least frank about their selfish and ruthless behavior. Eventually, the three come together. Topaz ends up married to Gunther (who's become involved with a heavy drug scene). Before marrying, though, she'd dated Sean, whom she had hoped would introduce her to the ``right people'' (read: celebrities). Of the three, one finally dies, another is miserable and alone, the third is happier than most people have a right to be. It's all too easy, in accordance with Copeland's moral scale, to guess the outcomes--more suspense and less predictability could have offered the novel some much needed energy. The story is lacking, too, in good old-fashioned campy fun--the most important factor, after all, in any sort of Jackie Collins page-turner. The mean-spirited Topaz and Gunther are unpleasant, but not even the goody-goody Sean is appealing: in all, just plenty of glitz and three rich, unlikable people. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0312154933
• ISBN 13: 9780312154936
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 422