Customer Reviews

The Second Assistant

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"The Second Assistant" is a very fun, very fast read.
Our heroine, Lizzie, is a former congressional aide turned second assistant to a Hollywood agent. She realizes that her training in politics can do little to help her survive the very political world of Hollywood. One minute she's ordering srippers (with small nipples please) for her boss's boss; the next minute she's running across the street to get coffee.

However, this book is more than just an entertaining read and a glimpse into the world of "Cameron D." and Jen (who is married to Brad). Lizzie struggles to hold on to her integrity and to her sense of self throughout her attempt to climb Hollywood. To her surprise, she finds out she actually enjoys a lot of the work and decides that she too wants to produce. In addition, she feels tremendous sympathy for many of the character, and while she skewers them at times, she also notes their positive attributes.

I would recommend this book to fans of chick lit everywhere and to those who want an inside look at Hollywood...from the bottom of the ladder!

I was given this book. One look at the cover, and I wasn't hopeful. I read the first few pages one morning when I woke early. I didn't get up until 3.30pm, the book finished, my day shot to pieces. I thought this was going to be strictly for girls . But no. KELLS loved it.

I was particularly taken by the main character, Elizabeth (or at least I wish I was). Apart from falling hopelessly in love with her, I really felt as if i was being let into the secret world of how a modern, cool girl, lives, thinks, and sees. What a treat! I would love to meet her.

There's no political correctness coming from Naylor and Hare, which not only is a relief, but one of the main reasons the book is laugh out loud. Crazy Hollywood parties, people etc. are dealt with brilliantly, and all through the eyes of our wonderfully straight, easy going heroine. The authors also sail wonderfully close to the wind as to portraying real Hollywood stars.

OK, it's another girl-in-awful-job book, like the exquisitely written Nanny Diaries and appalling piece of hackwork, Devil Wears Prada.

On the writing score, this is good to excellent-- the prose is not sharp and incisive but neither is it leaden and pointless. It's serviceable, and the dialogue is often very good indeed. Also it gets better as it goes along, so by the middle of the book you might find yourself not wanting to put it down.

Lizzie is a likeable character-- not a whiner like the heroine of Prada nor an altruist like Nanny in Nanny Diaries; she's a young woman making a career shift from politics to entertainment almost on a whim. What saves her from being insufferable is that she really is open-minded and trying to make the best of it, and although she has some understandable second thoughts, she ends up realizing that this is a good world for her abilities and interests after all.

But don't just read this for the "chick-flick" appeal-- this is a MUST READ for anyone who wants to make it in Hollywood. I worked recently on a high-powered TV show-- not an "Agency"-- but I can say with certainty that the authors are 100% accurate in their depiction of the commercial entertainment world. It's treacherous but also naive; deceptive and gullible-- all at the same time. And there ARE opportunities to be had.

Loved the description of "falling upward," the tendency, unique to Hollywood, to reward those who are fired with positions higher up. The description of the trip to Sundance was hilarious and fascinating. In the end, Hollywood seems like a sunny place-- you can get burned but you can also just get a nice glow; you have to be careful how you expose yourself.

I found this inspiring and entertaining. And I'll be going through it with my highlighter for tips.

Its a fun, easy and amusing read!

I loved how realistic the book is though, I work as an asst in Hollywood and I totally related to the character and her life.

So if you're looking for a funny and entertaining book, then give this one a read!

Finally! This is the book that does it! If you read The Nanny Diaries and wondered why?? If you read The Devil Wears Prada and -really- wondered why?? This book will answer your questions as to why one struggles with crazy bosses, unreasonable working conditions, and industry madness all while being at the bottom of the corporate food chain.

Elizabeth Miller leaves the static world of D.C. politics for Hollywood to work for The Agency, the hottest talent agency in the business. As a second assistant she quickly learns that appearances are everything and nothing is what it seems. We follow her through her dating and work related faux pas and successes, and meet some rather interesting characters along the way.

What I liked best about this book is that it isn't sugar coated or completely over the top. Elizabeth and her co-workers are brilliantly written and the scenes from The Agency feel like a reality TV show all their own. The book is fast paced, funny, and a great summer read. So, if you've been looking for a break from the usual "chick lit" read, (I know, I'm tired of that label, too.) get a hold of The Second Assistant. You'll have a ball.

Oh joy, another book about overburdened Hollywood ants, toiling under the whips of overprivileged stars. Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare attack well-worn turf in the chic-lit "The Second Assistant," which starts on wobbly ground, but gains its footing about two-thirds of the way in.

Elizabeth Miller is a second assistant -- meaning she's the assistant of the assistant -- at a large talent agency in Hollywood. Surrounding her are narcissistic stars, hamhanded producers, and Machievellian fellow assistants. After some run-ins with moderately attractive men in "the industry" who turn out to be sluts or pervs, she becomes a lot more cynical.

Doing her work while struggling with vegetables, her drug-addled boss, and her insane shrink isn't easy. At the same time, Lizzie is trying to help an aspiring screenwriter pal get his screenplay onto the silver screen. At the Sundance Festival, both romance and screenplay success seem to be within her grasp, until twin disasters hit...

The first third of "The Second Assistant" smacks of "Devil Wore Prada" -- gripes about the insane lives of downtrodden assistants. Not to mention the classification of L.A.'s entire population as surgically enhanced, air-headed pond scum. Fortunately the plot actually takes over after awhile, glossing over the flaws. It lacks the bite and fire of Robin Lynn Williams's "The Assistants," but it's a fun light read.

Hare and Naylor do have a pretty good writing style, even if they do name-drop half the celebrities under the sun. They throw in plenty of Machiavellian plot twists and schemes, while wrapping L.A. in a glow of make-believe -- especially during the difficult Halloween party, the film festival, and Elizabeth rushing to rescue her naked, robbed boss from a cheapo motel. And they have a pretty good sense of humor, such as the scene where Lizzie goes to a shrink, only to have the shrink professionally consult the voices in her head.

Lizzie is a pretty nice character, starting out ridiculously naive but rapidly growing a thick skin to protect herself from all the backstabbing. Supporting characters like gloomy, cynical Lara and snort-anything-that-was-once-a-pill Scott are good supports for her, as well as bohemian-geek screenwriter Jason and slutty star Jake. Only love interest Luke (must there ALWAYS be a sensitive soulmate in these books?) is too flat -- he seems tailored to deflate Lizzie's cynicism.

"The Second Assistant" is not the bottom of the literary ladder, and not the top. It sits solidly in the middle, a flawed but enjoyable guilty pleasure.

I don't know what to really say about this book. I'm a big fan of chick lit that dishes about the entertainment industry but the genre as a whole is becoming very stale. This book doesn't help bring in new fans. It was way too long and drawn out, the storyline was all over the place, and the pieces just didn't fit. You know how you're completing a jigsaw puzzle and you're down to the last few pieces and you try to make them fit? That's sorta what this book is like.

I still give the book a generous 2.5 stars because I liked the subject matter, just not the way it was written overall. I even smiled at the ending, but that could have been because I actually finished the book and not because it was clever. In my opinion, hardcover book money is too hard to come by so utilize your tax dollars and check this out of your local library.

The Second Assistant starts off with a promise that you will be able to sneak a peek into the lives of Hollywood's rich and powerful. Enter Elizabeth aka Lizzie who is hired to be a Second Assistant to Scott Wager at The Agency, an agent to the STARS.

I admit that the rich & famous intrigue me. It amazes me how that nothing is impossible to obtain when you have people at your beck and call. So, if you are looking forward to reading about the outrageous demands that Assistants are forced to deal with, this is not your book.

Second Assistant attempts to put Lizzie in funny/embarassing situations that will make you laugh out loud...but it does not.

The best way to describe Second Assistant is like riding a roller coaster. You make your way up the hill and having a good time. All of a sudden, you fall fast and are stuck at the bottom for a while. Slowly, you ride back up again with a smile on your face not knowing that you will be coming to an abrupt, complete stop at the very end.

The ending gives hints that there may be a sequel, but I will not be reading it.

I enjoyed this book a whole lot more than The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada. While the three books are, indeed similar in scope and content, The Second Assistant takes the genre of chick lit to a whole new level.

Our heroine, Elizabeth Miller, is a talented, educated young woman who switches from politics to the movie industry- moving from Washington, D.C. to L.A.

A fish out of water, Elizabeth's character was instantly likeable to me- she was funny, fresh, and a lot of fun. While the tasks she did for her cocaine-snorting boss were quite menial, Elizabeth laughs at herself. Elizabeth never complains about the work she has to do, never treats it with contempt or a whiny attitude- always with a touch of sarcasm. From attending the hot Hollywood parties that anybody would kill to be invited to, to the movie moguls who ceaselessly stalk her, Elizabeth treats her subject with grace and humor that is unparallelled in any other book in the wide-ranging chick lit genre.

Perhaps this book is written so conventionally, so sophmorically and so uninspiringly is BECAUSE it was a collaborative effort. I think one writer would have found a more interesting voice than that of this sterotypical nice girl in the big city.