Real life events or total fiction? The world may never know.
An anonymous A- List celebrity writes a tell all memoir about his life before becoming a household name. At least, that is the idea, but the content of the memoir is so polarizing and explosive that nobody wants to touch it. Desperate to have his story told, he engages the help of an entrepreneur to release his brainchild out into the world and even he is dragged, threatened and bullied in an attempt to keep this book from seeing the light of day. The story of the actor known only as “The Author” chronicles the first year of his life in Hollywood as he struggles to find his way in a land of excess, drugs and wild parties. From the opening chapter, I knew this was going to be a wild ride. Starting out as an assistant to a talent agency he puts everything on the line, moving from New York to LA on a wing and a prayer and a massive lie to break into the business. But acting was only to be a means to an end as his ultimate goal is to become the next great novelist. Sound convoluted? It is.
I was turned on to The Author by the massively viral prerelease media blitz. The premise was completely new and immediately attention grabbing and I’ll even admit that I binge watched all available episodes of “The Author Show” in a single weekend. The show not only set the framework of this book but also tells a bit of the backstory of the mastermind behind this entire project, entrepreneur Daniel Thomas Hind. Naturally, with all the lore surrounding this mysterious and self-proclaimed forbidden memoir I was eager to get my hands on a copy. For me, the marketing strategy worked. I was hooked and ready to read.
Overall, the narrative is very disjointed, but still in a way coherent. There was a definite beginning and an end, but the situations and events in the chapters in between were unordered and rambling and while that may put many off, I chalked it up to what must have been the author’s drug-addled state of mind while many of the situations played out. With each chapter exploring another point in the history of The Author – anything from escapades as a youth to his drug induced days trying to make it big in Hollywood – the author does a great job of taking the reader into each scenario (memory) and immersing them to the point that when the narrator comes back into the present time it can be a bit jarring and disorienting. I feel this was probably done by design.
If you are not familiar with The Author Show or any of the other ads and hype preceding this book, basically providing the backbone or backstory of the overall narrative, this book will come off as extremely nonsensical, possibly pretentious, and hard to read. Truly after reading it myself I can say that this is a polarizing title and one that readers will either really like or vehemently hate. I really do not see an in between or a happy medium where the book is “just ok”. In the recent climate of knee jerk reactions to a theme, word, or idea in that respect this book will also offend those who have their feathers easily ruffled. Taking all of that into consideration, I find myself in the ‘really like’ category as I tend to gravitate more toward edgy and controversial content.
This book isn’t all just ramblings, however, there is also a human element if you take the time to look for it. In his quest to become famous and to ultimately write the next Great American Novel, the author makes several references to other legendary authors before him (this was also a huge theme in the Author Show). The way he goes about achieving this goal is where the humor lies. Throughout the 300+ pages of this book there are funny parts, as well as sad and serious parts. There is a lost love aspect with several mentions a person only as “you who I will not name”, which I feel is probably him pining for his girlfriend he left behind to come to LA. The recurring snake references peppered throughout also appears to be a metaphor for himself as he is searching for his place but destroying himself at the same time. Will he achieve his fame before he self-destructs is the big question.
After reading this title, I still have no idea if this “Author” is someone famous or just a product of the real author’s imagination. At this point, if the stories in this memoir are real I would rather not know who it is lest it shatter what could be a pristine image or serve to confirm all suspicions.
Thanks to MetaLit, Scribe Media and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this title. The reviews and opinions above were voluntarily provided. All opinions are my own. The Author is scheduled for an April 1, 2025 release
Jennly Reads 