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by Michael Tolkin
The Player was a brilliant satire of Hollywood that has become a cult classic. Now, it's fifteen years later and film executive Griffin Mill is back. As the novel opens, Griffin, down to his last 6 million dollars, is broke. He has one last desperate plan, to quit the studio and convince Phil Ginsberg, an almost billionaire, to become his partner. Ginsberg takes the bait when Griffin donates $750,000 to the Coldwater Academy, the elite private high school that Ginsberg's son attends. He sees the potential in Griffin, a master of stories, and hires him to write one starring his money. It looks like Griffin's dream is on track, but he soon discovers that he has taken on more than he could have imagined. While Griffin's ideas barely percolate, his personal life is falling apart. His second marriage is broken, and he's beginning to think he shouldn't have divorced his first wife. And if that's not enough, Griffin commits another murder when his plan nearly collapses.
"Starred review. Mill's antiheroic effort to wring love and meaning from a loveless and meaningless life is heartfelt and cynical, resulting in a powerful dark comedy that transcends the shopworn genre of Hollywood satire." - PW.
"Whenever its moribund souls aren't soliloquizing at ear-splitting volume and exhausting length, this is vivid, nasty fun." - Kirkus.
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