Books like The Manhattan Beach Project

This book was a gift and it is the first novel I have read by Peter Lefcourt. It is a quick, fun read that pans the entertainment industry, foreign affairs and the short term public memory. Charlie, a has-been Hollywood producer just four years out from winning an Oscar, is now in debt and living in his nephews pool house when he is approached by a stranger and offered an opportunity to produce a reality show. Charlie connects with a hush-hush division of a tv network and secures enough funds, in euros no less, to get production of "Warlord," a reality show about a real-life Uzbekistan criminal set in Central Asia, in the works. Billed as "The Sopranos meets the Osbournes" network execs have don't ask, don't tell coded conversations about the reality of the violence and the degree of criminal activity all the while salivating over preliminary test audience results. Add a rogue Peace Corps volunteer, a Polish film crew, a dramatically inclined mistress, a corner-office seeking ladder climber, along with a medley of agents, lawyers, accountants and the like and soon the reality show is a circus with automatic weapons. It is an absurd tale that I enjoyed while I was reading it but, much like the ill-fated reality show, I doubt I'll remember this book for too long.