On the other hand, the exact effects on the somewhat jaded aging star is not so easy to imagine, after all he is used to the resources he has, the people he influences, the life he lives. Those who turn up at his house, and indeed do not, are all learning experiences for her. She is amazed by some of his possessions, including a collection of cars. She discovers the points at which their lives have similarities, a feeling of being different that have shaped their world view. Hugo’s house proves to be everything she imagined and more, even if she cannot imagine where normal life is lived in an amazing kitchen. Diverting his driver via her apartment brings her down to earth as to her awful living conditions, and she realises that she wants to seize the opportunity to be different for a short while, or however long it lasts. Much to her surprise Hugo Best is there, and issues an invitation to join him at his house.
She leaves the studio after the final ever show to go the Birds & the Bees comedy club, where she takes advantage of the open mic to try out new material. She says of her feeling about him that it was “The double whammy of loving him and also wanting to be him”. June has never quite come to terms with her good fortune in working on the programme, and the rest of her life is so unsatisfactory that she does not require much persuasion to join this intriguing man. I was very interested to have the opportunity to read and review this unique book. This novel covers a long weekend, Memorial Day included, but it proves significant in various lives. The long running nature of the programme means that she feels, like many others, that she has grown up watching the programme she has been working on. This makes him difficult to be with, and yet June needs him on a level that is not obvious. Hugo is more than a man, he is an institution, with all the idiosyncrasies of someone who is used to getting his own way and being accorded automatic respect. He is a much older man, and his casual invitation to her to spend the weekend with him creates a unique situation. Sadly the programme has been axed, and Hugo Best is at a loose end.
June Bloom is a young woman who in some ways has achieved her ambition, writing small pieces of material for her long time hero, Hugo Best, and assisting with his late night comedy chat show.
This unusual book deals with a topic more at home in America in some ways, but it has much to say about celebrity in every country.
0 kommentar(er)
