The Diamond Lane - Hardcover

Karbo, Karen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399135979 ISBN 13: 9780399135972

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 1991

Synopsis

A documentary filmmaker and her longtime collaborator drift toward marriage then veer off when they return to Hollywood and are distracted--she by her ex-flame, he by a mega-buck deal

About this title

Reviews

Reluctantly back home in L.A. after 16 years in Africa, documentary filmmaker Mouse FitzHenry longs for the harsh, teeming jungle life her dark lens took in so lovingly. Wrenched stateside by a family emergency, with her longtime boyfriend/collaborator in tow, Mouse is instantly beleaguered by a past she'd leapt continents to escape and a present she can only face armed by reels of celluloid. In this rollicking second novel, Karbo ( Trespassers Welcome Here ) reveals familiar subjects--the phony glitz of Hollywood, the fairy-tale lure of love and marriage--with precision, compassion and humor as if we are seeing them for the very first time. Mouse's paramour Tony, a Brit who calls her "poppet," adores L.A. and all that it can do for him and for his screenplay, Love Among the Elephants . "Based on a true story" about their courtship in Africa, the script has been given the go-ahead by a producer who insists on dubbing it Love Among Gorillas. Mouse, meanwhile, caving in to maternal pressure, agrees to marry Tony and then proceeds, with the help of an old flame, to film around her unwitting fiance a documentary on the entire process of their betrothal called Wedding March. A flawless, page-turning story emerges as Mouse and Tony manage--often with hilarious subterfuge--to keep their projects secret from one another. With its laugh-aloud moments and a cast of brilliantly drawn characters, this is a tale to treasure.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Documentary filmmaker Mouse FitzHenry, her live-in collaborator Tony Cheatham in tow, jets home to Los Angeles for a family emergency after 16 years in Africa. Mother Shirl, recovering from brain surgery after being beaned by a falling ceiling fan, expects Mouse and Tony to marry. Sister Mimi shares her duplex and friends, all Film People or People in Film (with distinction provided). But as life proceeds, art intervenes. Mouse works on a documentary of their wedding (co-producing with Ivan, her first love and Mimi's ex-husband) without Tony's approval; and Tony, smitten with Lalaland, pushes a project based (loosely) on their romance, knowing Mouse would be appalled. A deft, tragicomic social satire--of Los Angeles and the movie biz in particular and modern mores in general--noteworthy for the complexity of its characters, crisp prose, and loopy comic style.
- Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399135979
• ISBN 13: 9780399135972
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 316