Put on your crash helmet and get ready for a thriller that's funny and farcical.
And those are just the philosophers.
Get ready for HIGH CONCEPTS: A HOLLYWOOD NIGHTMARE.
Donald P. Wirt, PhD, is a young, obtuse professor of philosophy who is mistakenly fired for “unprofessional and unethical conduct” at a professional ethics conference. But his luck changes when an affluent couple hires him to be a private tutor to their son, Miles, a brilliant high school junior who, rather than prepping for the SAT, spends his nights writing slasher film scripts and pitching Hollywood prodcos under the nom de théâtre, “Donnie Percival.” When one of those prodcos surprisingly requests an actual meeting in L.A., Miles fears he will lose the deal if he’s discovered to be only a pimply youth of sixteen. So in return for a share of the payout, he sends Donald in his place--in the guise of “Donnie Percival.”
Yet almost as soon as his plane lands at LAX, Donald discovers that “Donnie Percival” has a life of his own. Only dimly aware of what is happening to him, he is quickly entangled in a cutthroat world of warring producers, ferocious celebrity pets, and a ruthless former teen queen looking for a reboot as a serious actress.
As the clueless Donald becomes the hottest scribe in Hollywood, the burning question emerges: how hot can “Donnie Percival” become before Donald himself goes up in flames?
As one 5-star review shrewdly observed: HIGH CONCEPTS is a "delicious cocktail of wit: Mix two parts early Waugh (Decline and Fall) with one part Heller (Picture This) and one part Wodehouse short story; then add a dash of Monty Python's Philosopher's Song (to taste), and you've got McInerny's new concoction. Drink the whole thing down, and you'll be laughing out loud along the way."
Or as another 5-star review put it even more incisively: "If you don't laugh, there's something wrong with you."
And those are just the philosophers.
Get ready for HIGH CONCEPTS: A HOLLYWOOD NIGHTMARE.
Donald P. Wirt, PhD, is a young, obtuse professor of philosophy who is mistakenly fired for “unprofessional and unethical conduct” at a professional ethics conference. But his luck changes when an affluent couple hires him to be a private tutor to their son, Miles, a brilliant high school junior who, rather than prepping for the SAT, spends his nights writing slasher film scripts and pitching Hollywood prodcos under the nom de théâtre, “Donnie Percival.” When one of those prodcos surprisingly requests an actual meeting in L.A., Miles fears he will lose the deal if he’s discovered to be only a pimply youth of sixteen. So in return for a share of the payout, he sends Donald in his place--in the guise of “Donnie Percival.”
Yet almost as soon as his plane lands at LAX, Donald discovers that “Donnie Percival” has a life of his own. Only dimly aware of what is happening to him, he is quickly entangled in a cutthroat world of warring producers, ferocious celebrity pets, and a ruthless former teen queen looking for a reboot as a serious actress.
As the clueless Donald becomes the hottest scribe in Hollywood, the burning question emerges: how hot can “Donnie Percival” become before Donald himself goes up in flames?
As one 5-star review shrewdly observed: HIGH CONCEPTS is a "delicious cocktail of wit: Mix two parts early Waugh (Decline and Fall) with one part Heller (Picture This) and one part Wodehouse short story; then add a dash of Monty Python's Philosopher's Song (to taste), and you've got McInerny's new concoction. Drink the whole thing down, and you'll be laughing out loud along the way."
Or as another 5-star review put it even more incisively: "If you don't laugh, there's something wrong with you."
