Authors: Sarah Fuller,Sarah Noffke and Michael Anderle

The first of two books on her life spent before and in LA, Sarah Fuller’s joint effort with fellow authors Sarah Noffke and Michael Anderle, Everyone in LA is an Asshole, astounds the reader with its contradictions. Ranging from her mother being a Southern socialite / Christian Scientist / Methodist to she herself being a yoga/Pilates devotee, who’s hooked on her female instructress’s touching of her buttocks, while she spends a great deal of time encountering guys on dating websites, Fuller’s recounting of her background in the sleepy backwoods of Oregon, from which she knew she had to get away if she were to make any kind of reasonable life for herself, makes one roll in the aisles from laughter.

LA is painted in multicolored hues, as teeming with ‘assholes,’ of whom she counts herself one. The women are portrayed just as scathingly as are the men, but so wittily that even the most ardent LA supporter is likely to empathize with what Fuller has to say about life in the big city. Everyone in LA is an Asshole is a true coming-of-age tale of how the author finds her feet amidst the ever-demanding and -changing activity around her. Underlying her inbuilt cynicism is an appreciation for life in all its diversity, which she clearly grabs with both hands and pulls (now, get that phallic symbolism out of your head, y’all…).

A major element of Fuller’s fictionalized account of her encounters with a wide array of characters, both on and offline, is her typology of the males whom she comes across, ranging from her mother’s gardener come live-in boyfriend to a wide range of possible (mis)matches that she meets with online, and whom she frequently does meet (albeit fleetingly) in real life. Fuller’s witty and pointed lowdown on the male psyche makes anyone who’s ever been part of the dating game (and haven’t we all?) a delighted bystander to her online shenanigans. No wonder her science fiction world is peopled with such oddities—she bases them on real life!

Everyone in LA is an Asshole is likely to appeal not only to those who are themselves steeped in the LA milieu, but also to a strong British audience, who could easily come to see Sarah Fuller as a ‘Bridget Jones comes to America.’ The work has outstanding potential for rendering into TV or film adaptations, with much appeal for both female and male readers alike. With the coronavirus currently sending the nation’s mood into a downward spiral into the depths of despondency, Fuller’s idiosyncratic take on life in the second largest city in America should prove to be the ideal tonic to restore flagging spirits, so don’t reach for the nearest tonic bottle, but, instead, opt for immersing yourself in her world of mayhem and mirth—I promise, you’ll be all the better for it!