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Hollywood Wives meets A Visit from the Goon Squad in this emotional debut novel from Variety chief correspondent and a moderator of the Actors on Actors series about a group of actresses confronting their careers, their secrets, and each other throughout one turbulent awards season.
As Hollywood prepares for its most glamorous evening, five actresses compete to see who will claim the top prize.
Adria, a dignified and highly regarded grand dame of the movie industry, is intent on cementing her legacy as one of the greatest thespians of all time, even as the younger generation creeps up quickly behind her. Bitty must keep a nervous breakdown—and an increasingly debilitating alcohol addiction—at bay, as she searches for genuine closeness in an unforgiving landscape. Contessa, a former child star, is determined to make the world, and her leading man, take her seriously. Davina attempts to find her footing in superficial Los Angeles, a far cry from her roots as a serious London stage actress. And Jenny—always the underdog to her rival, Adria—sees this awards season as her personal redemption, a chance to atone for past mistakes and make up for missed opportunities.
With humor, wit, and an insider's insight, The Talent peels back the layers of women who are in the business of being perceived. And while they work to push their careers forward and maintain the public's goodwill, all five are forced to confront truths about themselves that they would rather ignore: Could Adria and Jenny have been a team all these years, rather than bitter enemies? Is it their responsibility to offer a lifeline to poor Bitty, who is clearly teetering on the edge? Should Contessa and Davina dim their own rising stars to make those around them more comfortable? What do women in the spotlight owe each other, and themselves?
"Unfortunately, the characters mostly feel two-dimensional, and the story is curiously devoid of drama. D'Addario channels the noise of Tinseltown, but not the glitter." —Publishers Weekly
"D'Addario's objective seems to be to convince us that snakes in a barrel are people too, and perhaps that's not really the most fun that could have been had with these well-developed characters and premises. Some of the highlights of the book are the faux online columns and magazine articles slipped in along the way—perfectly snarky in their send-up of celebrity journalism. Elsewhere, earnestness prevails. Apparently, it's lonely at the top. Long on authenticity and sympathetic portrayals, a little short on pizzazz." —Kirkus Reviews
"At once a sumptuous Hollywood novel and a trenchant exploration of fame, The Talent lays bare the horrors and glories of our hyper-performative, status-obsessed era. D'Addario delivers a performance worthy of the stars he writes about—biting, heartbreaking, deeply imagined, and entrancing." —Daniel Lefferts, author of Ways and Means
"Utterly alive, dazzlingly brilliant, and so true-to-life I literally had to stop myself—multiple times!—from Googling the titular leading ladies, The Talent is in a class of its own. With audacity and empathy, acuity and wit, D'Addario interrogates ambition, celebrity, and legacy to devastating effect. What a thrill to know, finally, what it's like to peer into the big screen from the other side." —Andrew Lipstein, author of Last Resort and The Vegan
This information about The Talent was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Daniel D'Addario is chief correspondent at Variety. He has won awards from the Los Angeles Press Club for profile writing and for political commentary and is among the moderators of Variety's Actors on Actors video series. He was previously the television critic for Variety and for Time. A graduate of Columbia University, he lives with his husband and two daughters in Brooklyn.
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