Pink

Pink is the first novel by film-maker Gus Van Sant, whose films include Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho and Good Will Hunting. Pink tells the story of industrial film-maker Spunky Davis and his close encounters with two strange young men whose disturbing aura attracts Spunky's curiosity - especially as one of them strongly reminds him of a dazzling young star of the infomercial world who has recently died tragically of a drug overdose. Gradually, they draw Spunky into their world, revealing to him the secrets of the Pink dimension.Pink is suffused with a grief for the temporary nature of life, for the breaking of connections, for the difficulties of coping with inconsolable loss. It is also a tale of hope and rapture - one told with the aching tenderness of My Own Private Idaho, as well as the wickedly ironic tone of To Die For.

Gus Van Sant is one of America's most original and celebrated filmmakers, whose credits include three films already considered classics: Drugstore Cowboy, which anticipated the current 90s revival; My Own Private Idaho, with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves; and To Die For, a black comedy that was a critical and box-office success. With Pink, Gus Van Sant brings his unique and playful genius to the novel, and the result is both delirious and disarmingly tender.

In Sasquatch, Oregon, Spunky Davis, middle-aged maker of infomercials, is trying to find his next assignment, finish the screenplay that he hopes will bring him Hollywood glory, and deal with the death of his friend and favorite infomercial presenter, the teen idol Felix Arroyo. Enter two young aspiring filmmakers, Jack and Matt, who captivate Spunky--especially as Jack bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Felix. But Jack and Matt are not what they appear to be--and are about to take Spunky to the mysterious realm known as Pink, where time and loss can be recovered.

With its riot of typefaces, footnotes and drawings (by the author), its trenchant and ironic deconstruction of youth culture and filmmaking, and its charmingly innocent sensibility, Pink is an absolute delight.