Items related to Negative
Drawing from the garish palette of true-life Hollywood, this fictionalized account of Tinseltown excess centers on a world-class director, a Cornell-educated mobster's son, and the only negative of a massively hyped movie--which is missing. A first novel. 50,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews:
An odd couple ``kidnap'' the final cut negative of a Hollywood blockbuster in this overblown caper novel--Covino's first, following his story collection, The Off-Season (1985--not reviewed). Frank Furio is the Ivy League yuppie son of a New York mobster; he has just done two years for masterminding a real-estate scam. Wilbur Blackfield is a down-at-heels professor of film who proposes they steal the negative of the soon-to-be-released, $67 million-dollar sequel to The High Plateau of Stars, the film that established Doug Lowell as a ``world-class moviemaker.'' The heist goes smoothly, but the blackmail attempts go nowhere because Lowell, holed up on his Santa Cruz mountain estate, has become convinced that his endlessly delayed, way-over-budget movie is ``rank with death-stench'': he would rather collect the insurance than get the negative back. Stalemated, Frank then kidnaps two San Francisco movie critics, hoping that, after their very private screening, they will convince Lowell of his mistake. Does this sound like the ideal fast-paced caper? It's far from it. Covino alternates narrators, first Furio, then Lowell; all that distinguishes them is Lowell's gabbiness. His long, narcissistic ruminations on creativity are one strike against a successful caper; the blink-of-an-eye speed of the kidnappings is another; and the third is that many later developments are reported on TV news while the kidnappers watch. As Furio says lamely: ``The story seemed to have passed from us.'' Covino's larger purpose is to demonstrate ``gangsterism as artistry--opposite sides of the same crazy coin''--but to get mileage out of this unoriginal proposition, you need credible gangsters and artists, those being not the case here. (First printing of 50,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherHodder & Stoughton General Division
- Publication date1994
- ISBN 10 0340595019
- ISBN 13 9780340595015
- BindingHardcover
- Rating
(No Available Copies)
Search Books: Create a WantIf you know the book but cannot find it on AbeBooks, we can automatically search for it on your behalf as new inventory is added. If it is added to AbeBooks by one of our member booksellers, we will notify you!
Create a Want