Amazon.co.uk Review
John Colapinto's
About the Author is a wicked thriller set in the ferocious world of publishing and a burning satire on what it takes to make a bestseller. Narrator, wannabe writer and stockboy Cal Cunningham has written nothing since he arrived in New York but he has relentlessly regaled his reclusive flatmate with his sexual conquests. When he discovers his roommate's finished manuscript,
a virtual transcription of the monologues with which [he] had entertained Stewart during the two and a half years of [their] roommatehood. It was all there. All of it. Not just the "Dispatches from Downtown" with their ribald tales of romantic conquest and alcohol abuse, but the truly precious stuff, the irreplaceable personal lode of [his] childhood memories, with all their pain and yearning and loss,
he justifies his subsequent plagiarism. By the end of Colapinto's novel, we are left with a dead flatmate, a half-murdered blackmailer, a deceased phoney cop, a drug deal on the Canadian border and a lot of close calls--all for the sake of Art.
About the Author starts off promisingly with its mellifluous, loquacious first-person narrative and its challenging moral premise, making this a real page-turner. Unfortunately, it loses steam halfway through as our narrator/anti-hero moves from the potentially explosive possibilities of New York City to the safe little hamlet of New Halcyon and the perfect life with the even more perfect wife. What could have been an inflammatory satire on the fiery world of publishing (Cal's agent Blackie Yaeger is a wonderfully drawn caricature but, disappointingly, never developed to his full Faustian potential) abruptly loses its sizzle. Nonetheless, it's worth reading Colapinto's assured first foray into Fiction, as he's sure to be a talent you'll hear from again, especially with the film rights to his novel already sold. An interesting case of life imitating art perhaps!
Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone Journalist Colapinto's first book was the bestselling non-fiction title As Nature Made Him. --Nicola Perry
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'A Perfect novel . . . not only a devastatingly witty satire on American literary life but also a thriller of which Patricia Highsmith would have been proud.' Amanda Craig, The Sunday Times 'Blackly comic thriller and a sly, spot-on satire of Bookbiz hoopla' The Times "A thriller worthy of Hitchcock at his best. I wasn't able to put it down. Splendid suspense." Stephen King 'Gleaming, well written and exciting.' Financial Times 'It is enormously, compulsively readable . . . the book is difficult to stop reading.' Spectator 'Masterly' Daily Mail 'It will satisfy readers who want to know what's new in literary fiction as well as those seeking the comforts of a well-told reader.' Matt Thorne, Guardian
Cal Cunningham is a stockroom boy and would-be novelist, sharing a tiny flat in New York with conscientious law student Stewart Church. Hampered by writer's block, Cal embarks on a series of one-night stands to give him some inspiration. Unfortunately this does not do the trick, and he remains as unproductive as ever. Stewart dies in a traffic accident on the day that Cal discovers that his flatmate has written his own novel, based on Cal's nocturnal adventures. Our hero decides to publish the work under his own name, reasoning that it is 'his' story, after all. The book is a huge success, film deals are signed, and Cal becomes very rich and famous...The End. Well, it may have ended there if it were not for the two other copies of the manuscript: one having been posted to Stewart's ex-girlfriend; the other stored on his laptop, stolen before his death by one of Cal's conquests. As Cal attempts to retrieve the copies, his newly idyllic lifestyle begins to unravel, and he is taught some strong lessons about plagiarism. As the paranoia intensifies, this could all have become very silly. However, the first person narrative style works well to keep things in check. It is clear that Cal is even more disbelieving of the nightmarish events that befall him than the most sceptical of readers. Despite his constant self-justification, plagiarism seems to infect every aspect of his existence. He does not just steal Stewart's novel, but the life he may have had, were it not for the accident, right down to marrying the unfortunate man's ex-girlfriend. At his lowest point, he even co-opts the murder plot from a Hitchcock film for his own desperate purposes. This is a breeze of a read; a funny, enjoyable thriller with an interesting premise, even if the ending reeks of wish-fulfilment. Is it too much to hope, however, that authors will stop telling their readers that they know something is a cliche, before repeating it anyway with no attempt to subvert it, or freshen it up? (Kirkus UK)
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