Customer Reviews

Artistic Differences

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of only a handful of books I've read more than twice, sitcom vet Charlie Hauck's only novel (so far) mirrors with uncanny precision my experience running comedies with difficult stars in the period in which the book was written, the early 1990s. My director on one show brought galleys of this book to the offices (he'd been invited to blurb it), where the staff writers sat around saying things like "That happened to me!" and "God, he heard about that and put it in the book?" One reviewer here calls this novel "hyperbolic," perhaps thinking mainly of the eventual fate of Geneve Holloway, but on the contrary, I have, over the years, sought out at least a dozen copies and given them to friends who want to know exactly what it's like running a half-hour comedy. It really is this strange, the powerful really are this corrupt and (above all) this blithely stupid.

Hauck's writing is a joy; it's effortlessly witty and eminently quotable. I created, wrote for, or staffed over a hundred sitcoms: this is what my days were like, with only the wit of my fellow writers buffering me from the insanity. Hauck's description of why running a sitcom is like Chapter Thirty-Seven of Moby Dick is alone worth the price of the book and is, I'm sure, applicable to many industries in which the efforts of the idealistic and talented are supervised and circumscribed daily by the cupidity and foolishness of the people they naively hoped they'd seen the last of in high school.

I love this book. I read it twice. I'll read it again. It's one of my favorite novels. It's just fun. It's funny and sad in parts, but it's a totally enjoyable book. Highest recommendation. I read that they were thinking of making a movie or TV movie of the book. I think that would be outstanding. Thank you Mr. Hauck.

Artistic Differences, by Charlie Hauck, is not the kind of book that will change your life or give you new insights into the human condition. That is why it only rates 3 out of 5 stars. However, if you liked the movie "The Player" or any other behind the scenes, satirical look at the ridiculous world of Hollywood then Artistic Differences will make you smile. From the beginning to the end, it is an over the top farce that is not meant to be taken too seriously and that is where it gets its charm. The characters are memorable (although stereotypical) and the plot moves along quickly as our narrator - writer/producer James Hoy - gives us a look at how bad decisions, out of control egos and rabid insecurity dictate what we watch on a typical sitcom. If you're in the mood for a light, sometimes biting, read then give this a try.