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- Beautiful Mess Reviewed By Wally Wood of Bookpleasures.com
Beautiful Mess Reviewed By Wally Wood of Bookpleasures.com
- By Wally Wood
- Published July 29, 2017
- GENERAL FICTION REVIEWS
Wally Wood
Reviewer Wally Wood: Wally is an editor and writer, has published three novels, Getting Oriented:A Novel about Japan, The Girl in the Photo and Death in a Family Business. He obtained his MA in creative writing in 2002 from the City University of New York and has worked with a number of authors as a ghostwriter and collaborator.
With an extensive background in a variety of business subjects, his credits include twenty-one nonfiction books. He spent twenty-five years as a trade magazine reporter and editor and has been a volunteer writing and business teacher in state and federal prisons for more than twenty years. He has finished his fourth novel and has translated a collection of Japanese short stories into English.
Author: John Herrick
Publisher: Segue Blue
ISBN: 978-0-99153-096-0
John Herrick had an
interesting idea: What if Marilyn Monroe wrote a screenplay while she
was married to Arthur Miller? What if she gave it to a
young friend, properly stamping each page with her thumbprint to
prove authenticity? What if the friend, Del Corwyn, packed the
script away and forgot about it? What if today, 72-year-old Del,
now facing bankruptcy, discovers the script, which Marilyn
titled “Beautiful Mess”?
That’s the
armature on which Herrick builds his new
novel, Beautiful Mess. If stories about Hollywood, the
stresses of fame, the dangers of false gods, and a happy
ending are the sort of book that attracts you, stop reading this
review right now and add Beautiful Mess to your
to-read list. You’ve been warned.
It’s not a
bad book. I admire Herrick’s industry. He’s published four
earlier novels and a book of non-fiction (8 Reasons Your
Life Matters). Beautiful Mess comes with a
reading group guide, interview with the author, and a stand-alone
short story. In his answer to the question of what motivates him
to select one book concept over another, Herrick gives
three elements, gut feeling, commercial and target-audience
appeal, and “potential to inspire or encourage the
reader.”
Expanding on motivation number three, he
writes,”The same collection of words triggers diverse
responses among readers. It can serve as entertainment for one
person. It might inspire another to reach for his or her dreams.
And that same novel could uplift someone enduring pain or
contemplating suicide. It’s such a privilege, and it’s like
fuel during my writing process.” Which may account for
my problems with the novel.
Herrick’s
main character, Del Corwyn is an actor who almost won an Academy
Award years ago. He has a big house in Malibu, runs every
day to keep himself in shape, never married, has been living
beyond his means, but seems to have no inner life. He was
Marilyn Monroe’s friend when is was barely out of his teens and had
an acting career that never went anywhere.
Del
meets a 25-year-old actress, Nora Jumelle, who is up for an
Academy Award for a breakout indie film. Nora is adventurous
enough—or screwed up enough—to have a one-night-stand with
Del. They agree a May-December relationship will not work
(although reportedly the sex was fine) and become friends.
Several of the chapters are written from Nora’s point of
view.
Del meets Felicia, a minister of certain
years (much more age-appropriate for Del) and they become
friends. We never learn much about Felicia’s religious calling
or what denomination she represents. Del and Nora happen to meet
Tristan, a 30-something online wellness coach who makes a good
living dispensing “Dear Abby” style advice anonymously and
for money.
None of the four main characters
seem to have families, friends, or much of a backstory. (Del does
have an accountant and an agent.) Herrick, I suspect, started
with his concept, then needed characters to move around to make
the concept work rather than starting with the character(s)
and letting the story grow out of their personalities and
experiences.
Another problem for me is the Monroe
script at the heart of the book. We never see it, although we do
read Marilyn’s letter to Del when she gives him the script.
People talk about the script, how incredible it is, so
spectacular that the biggest studio in the country is willing to
go all in to obtain it. But nothing, really, about it. It is a
McGuffin, “a plot device in the form of some goal,
desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist
pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation. The
specific nature of a McGuffin is typically unimportant to the
overall plot.” Alfred Hitchcock could get away without
explaining a McGuffin's specific nature; I wanted to know
more about Monroe’s script.
I also had problems
with the writing. Here’s Nora regarding Tristan: “He inspired in
her a sense of security, and as she sneaked glances at
those blue eyes, her heart told her he was a a guy with romantic
potential.” Dell regarding Felicia: “. . .Del could see in
her eyes that her heart reached out toward his.” (In Herrick’s
world, hearts are wonderfully articulate.) “Del invited
Felicia to speak a blessing over their meal, then they began to
partake.” Who partakes these days? And then there’s poor
Nora; she cannot get a break. She attends the Academy Award
ceremony dressed in Armani with Del as her date. However,
“Little did she know, the following day, critics would balk at
her attire and label her the ceremony’s
worst-dressed attendee.”
As I said at
the beginning, if the premise intrigues you, read the book. It
intrigued me enough to read and review it, but I am afraid
that on balance I came away from Beautiful Mess agreeing
only with the title’s second word.