Slick: A Novel [Hardcover]

Daniel Price (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 24, 2004

She teases and deceives. She writhes her way across the nation and beyond, seducing us all with her light and noise. Love her or hate her, you can’t escape her. She’s the American media–and nobody understands her better than Scott Singer.

A rising star in the world of public relations, Scott is a master at manipulating the news, especially when the news isn’t good for his clients. To journalists, he’s the dark prince of deception. To others, he’s merely the product of an amoral corporate culture. Not that their opinions matter to Scott, who shelved his ego years ago. It’s the only way to stay sane in a business that thrives on flying off the handle.

The trouble begins on the first day of Sweeps, when a fifteen-year-old girl goes on a fatal shooting spree in her high school cafeteria. For the news networks, it’s a ratings bonanza, especially when clues suggest that the tragedy was loosely inspired by a popular rap song. Suddenly America’s outrage is focused on Hunta, a young L.A. hip-hop artist who was on the verge of becoming a mainstream star. Now he’s Public Enemy Number One, and his life is about to get infinitely worse.
Saving Hunta could be the crowning achievement of Scott’s career, but he knows it won’t be easy. To take control of the story, he’ll have to upstage it. And to do that, he’ll have to engineer a hoax more ambitious and more elaborate than any publicist has ever attempted before.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

If a book could rise up the charts on voice alone, Price’s debut novel about an L.A. publicist’s unscrupulous machinations would be a clear Billboard hit. The first-person narration by self-described media manipulator Scott Singer is deliciously arch and bitchy. A true noir-ish character, Singer is a man with few detectable morals-the book opens with him tricking a bunch of activists into protesting in the nude. "NAKED YOUNG WOMEN PROTEST BEACH RESORT," he thinks. "Now that would stop the presses." But one of Singer’s few rules is that he doesn’t do character assassination, which makes it doubly hard for him when he’s hired to deflect the press away from hot young rapper Hunta, who’s about to be hit with a rape charge. Rather than demolish the accuser’s reputation, Singer suggests a media hoax: an outlandish scheme to have another woman level a fake rape charge against Hunta, which can then be disproved. However, the woman he finds turns out to be far sharper than he imagined, and she has her own ideas as to how she will-or won’t-be used in this scheme. Snappy dialogue keeps the story rolling along through several well-timed plot twists, though most of the characters are as one-dimensional as a press release. The author’s attempts to humanize Singer just don’t ring true-he’s too convincing as a self-absorbed Machiavelli.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Media critic Price wades hip-deep in hype for this heady debut packed with scandal, crackle, and pop. When honor student Annabelle Shane guns down six classmates at her Los Angeles high school, the press is quick to point the finger at up-and-coming rapper Hunta, whose incendiary song, "Bitch Fiend," clearly inspired the act. As the news networks sink their teeth into every bloody detail, Hunta's handlers engage the services of Scott Singer, a piranha-style publicist known for his unrelenting ways. The veteran spin-doctor, whom Hunta has dubbed "Slick," has his work cut out for him: the married rapper's tendency toward inflammatory lyrics is rivaled only by his weakness for beautiful women. When Slick masterminds a headline-grabbing hoax to steer public attention from the rapper's sexual indiscretions, his seedy strategies soon careen out of control. Price keeps the 350-plus pages turning with snappy wordplay and vivid, surprisingly complex characters. A dark meditation on the art of manipulation, this is a must read for anyone riveted--or repulsed--by the news. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Villard (August 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400062349
• ISBN-13: 978-1400062348
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,851,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart and witty novel, August 24, 2004

By 

H. Nghiem (san francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slick: A Novel (Hardcover)

A fantastic, engaging story about the media and the morality of PR. Dan Price's book is at once funny, fast-paced, and eye-opening. If you've ever wondered how the stuff on tv gets on tv, look no further. The author lifts the veil on the inner workings of the media world and shows us an ugly, easily manipulated system. And he does so with a incredible story full of surprise and irony.

Price has written a superb contemporary critique and novel. For anyone who enjoyed the movie 'Network' or fans of Chuck Palahniuk's 'Fight Club', this is a must read. You'll see the world differently.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent, hilarious and just plain fun..., August 24, 2004

By 

D. Tandon (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slick: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a very smart book. You'll never watch television news the same way again. It's a glimpse into the inner workings of modern media, entertainment and news that might just scare you into making your own decisions about the world.

Daniel Price has written a rockin' story that's eye-opening and informative without being preachy like most media critiques. He's fair, well-informed and funny as hell. Slick is an absolute joy to read!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!, October 5, 2004

By 

Jeanette S (Groveland, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slick: A Novel (Hardcover)

I am one of those moms who ignored her kids for 2 days (only 2, I started at 4AM) and enjoyed every minute of it. I read lots of fiction, but throw out a lot after 100 pages or so of sterotyped characters, worn-out plots, and cliches that just won't die. SLICK was totally different - One of the few novels of which I read every word -(I even skimmed DaVinci Code.) Fast paced, intriguing characters, and no silly car chases or melodramatic seduction scenes. Really makes you think, and gives you lots of neat info for Jeopardy in the process. Finally, a novel that portrays characters, and life, the way they are; complicated, sometimes messy, but intriguing if you are just willing to actually think about things, rather than accept whatever is fed to you.