Adios, Hollywood: My Story by Dick, Dog of Oaxaca [Hardcover]

Rose Leiman Goldemberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

There's never been a Hollywood memoir quite like this one—or a movie star like Dick, Dog of Oaxaca!

A tale of a Mexican mutt whose "discovery" by a director under a restaurant table in Oaxaca launches his fleeting but legendary career. Though he encounters crazed producers, clueless directors and slimy agents, Dick never goes Hollywood.

“Through it all, behind his signature sunglasses, Dick watches, learns and loves as only a dog can. The result is a hilarious, touching, thoroughly unique novel."—Jonathan Cutler, Openers

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her debut as a novelist, screenwriter Goldemberg ( The Burning Bed ) comes up a trifle tedious with a sporadically amusing fable about the vagaries of fame and fortune in La-La Land. Dick, Dog of Oaxaca, is a yellow-haired mongrel who--banished from the litter following an incestuous outpouring of puppy pubescence in which he tried to mount his dear old mum--is living a carefree life in the Mexican tourist mecca when he is discovered by blonde bubblehead Wanda Sacks (aka Wonder Sex), current casting-couch expendable of sleazeball director Harold LaTorre. Dick is given a part in the mega-hyped flick Escape to Infinity . When his big scene is consigned to the cutting-room floor (because, after 45 takes, he repeatedly upstages the star), Dick momentarily becomes canis non grata . But filmmakers are notorious for changing their minds. Predictably, the producers reverse themselves and Dick quickly rises to stardom in what is eventually released as Twin Dicks --"One Dick is as good as another," the producers say. Our hero is afforded star treatment--press agents, speech coaches, bodyguards--which of course leads to analysis and Zen. At times farcical, this regrettably uneven satire plays out as a corny "sniff and tell" about artistic non compos mentis in Hollywood.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

First novel, mining a vein of Hollywood humor, by the scriptwriter for The Burning Bed, Stone Pillow and 30 other screenplays. Goldemberg maintains a steadily plaintive tone in supporting what is otherwise a feeble satire on filmmaking. The story is told by Umberto, a mongrel, much as Kafka's ``Report to an Academy'' is told by an ape addressing an academy--though that ends any likeness to Kafka. Umberto and Wanda Sacks (Wonder Sex) meet cute when Umberto is still a humble street pup in Oaxaca and slinks under her table in the town square to beg for food and is rewarded by her friendship. Wanda's lover Harold is director of the about-to-be- filmed Escape to Infinity (later retitled Mothers in Chains), an action adventure starring Michael the Magnificent, a hunk so dumb that he needs 45 takes of a wordless scene with Umberto because the pup (now Dick the Wonder Dog) keeps stealing it from him. Wanda, a mere starlet, adopts Umberto/Dick and has Harold cast him in Escape/Mothers (again, briefly, retitled A Dog and His Bone when Dick's great acting heart begins to outshine the picture). But Wanda and Harold split when he rewrites Wanda out of the final ``Bye Bye Scene,'' in which Michael flies off to Mars. Wanda attempts suicide by driving over a cliff, but her Dickie Dog pulls her from the car before it sails off. When Wanda is invited to a producer's party (``Lettuce entertain you!''), Dick meets Bernie Winkleman, agent: ``With the proper representation, you could be leveraged to stardom. I saw your work in Mothers in Chains...You're a Spanish dog, I think? You have a slight accent. Have you thought of a dialogue coach?'' And so a dog star is born, and the success of Twin Dicks (Dick plays a dual role!) leads at last to The Dog of God--though Dick's career ends in the dust. The actor as dog? A one-string joke--funny, then less funny. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312104553
• ISBN-13: 978-0312104559
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,543,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER OPINION, January 5, 2000

By 

Writer Lady (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adios, Hollywood: My Story by Dick, Dog of Oaxaca (Hardcover)

I'M THE AUTHOR...AND UNFORTUNATELY AMAZON.COM PRINTED OUT OUR ONLY BAD REVIEW.

ANOTHER OPINION: "THERE'S NEVER BEEN A HOLLYWOOD MEMOIR QUITE LIKE THIS ONE--BUT THEN, THERE'S NEVER BEEN A MOVIE STAR QUITE LIKE DICK, DOG OF OAXACA. ONCE A HUMBLE MEXICAN DOG, HE WAS DISCOVERED UNDER A RESTAURANT TABLE AND HIS LEGENDARY CAREER WAS LAUNCHED.

"NOW DICK LOOKS BACK ON THE HEADY DAYS OF STARDOM, FROM HIS FIRST PART IN "ESCAPE TO INFINITY" TO HIS FINAL ROLE, IN THE INFAMOUS, NEVER-COMPLETED "DOG OF GOD." WHILE DICK STRUGGLES TO PERFECT HIS CRAFT AND PROTECT HIS BELOVED MISTRESS, STARLET WANDA SACKS, HE DIRECTORS, SPINELESS WRITERS AND SLIMY AGENTS, NOT TO MENTION THE GORGEOUS DUMB ACTOR WHOSE LINES ARE PAINTED ON A MOUNTAIN SO HE CAN READ THEM WITH A FARAWAY LOOK IN HIS EYES.

"THROUGH IT ALL, BEHIND HIS SIGNATURE SUNGLASSES, DICK WATCHES, LEARNS, AND LOVES AS ONLY A DOG CAN. THE RESULT IS A HILARIOUS, TOUCHING, THOROUGHLY UNIQUE NOVEL."

I LIKE THIS APPRAISAL BETTER!

ADIOS, HOLLYWOOD IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REPRINTED, AND IS THE SUBJECT OF A NEW MUSICAL COMEDY.

ROSE LEIMAN GOLDEMBERG

5.0 out of 5 stars "Adios, Hollywood, My Story By Dick, Dog of Oaxaca As Told To Rose Leiman Goldemberg"., June 18, 2007

By 

Edwin E. Bobrow "Professor" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adios, Hollywood: My Story by Dick, Dog of Oaxaca (Paperback)

"Adios, Hollywood, My Story By Dick, Dog of Oaxaca As Told To Rose Leiman Goldemberg".

It was one of the funniest and enjoyable reads I have had in a long time. Aside from the shear enjoyment of reading the story it stayed with as I got to understand what kind of place Hollywood can be. I think the use of a dog to tell the story of what happens to some if not most who want to be in the Hollywood scene was brilliant.

I thank you for writing it and providing me with such meaningful fun, but hat happens to Dick next?