The Locklear Letters

Software salesman Sid Straw's life begins a downward spiral after he writes a series of letters to Hollywood star Heather Locklear, in hopes of rekindling an acquaintanceship with his former college classmate. Reprint.

Thirteen years after the publication of his well-received first novel, A Thousand Benjamins, Kun returns with a cheeky take on celebrity worship, tracing the downward spiral of an annoying salesman through an ongoing, obsessive series of letters he writes to his famous college classmate, Heather Locklear. Sid Straw, the marketing director for a Baltimore software company, claims to have known Locklear when they were both at UCLA. His fixation with the actress gets him into trouble when a series of badgering letters sent to Locklear's agent to secure a personalized photo results in a cross-country restraining order. On the home front, the 40ish Straw loses his new girlfriend when she learns of his obsession with Locklear, and is fired from his job after a series of Locklear-related misunderstandings. Straw sets out in search of a new job, fending off depression and despair with ludicrously chummy letters to Locklear as well as bumbling missives to family, erstwhile friends, legal counsel and assorted service people. Kun overcomes the limitations of his epistolary format with some inventive maneuvering that fills in the gaps in the story line and keeps the letters from becoming monotonous. The highlight is a tongue-in-cheek climax in which Straw gets back at his various correspondents-cum-tormenters by hiring a litigation-savvy lawyer, then entices his object of worship to put in an unlikely appearance at their college reunion (or has Straw simply gone off the deep end and imagined it all?). Kun's lighthearted humor pokes clever fun at our ongoing obsession with fame and celebrity.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.