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The Performer
Bellmont, New York, 1971
The blurb on the back:
SHE ALWAYS WORE RED What's that? Who's Heller Toren, you say? Surely you remember Elaine Smith, the dancer and actress who went on to marry Jess Yates and give the world the delightful Paula Yates, courtesy of Hughie Green? Anyway Ms Toren has done some writing on her account, and this novel is perhaps her most famous work. Which is to say that it's not very well known at all. Is it any good? Well, there you've got me, I'm afraid. I couldn't read the damn thing. I tried, for the sake of this site, but I just couldn't get through it. I can say that it's not actively bad, and that in its multi-narrator structure, it is at least attempting to do something different from the run-of-the-mill novels about the entertainment industry, but ... oh, it's just too dull. It's not even funny. The best thing about it is the cover tagline that so heavily undersells the endeavour: 'A sensational new novel about a woman you may never forget'. I love that 'may'. ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 1/5 HIPNESS QUOTIENT: 4/5 formerly known as Heller Toren home |