A couple of twentysomethings dreaming of the fame and fortune awaiting them in not-too-close Los Angeles shack up in a dreary tract house, until good luck finds them. A first novel. 15,000 first printing."
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Loh's Depth Takes a Holiday, a book of essays about (don't laugh) L.A.'s cultural scene, was a surprise best seller. This, her first novel, tells of a pair of wannabe Hollywooders.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The author's patented sly under-30 humor renders her first novel a triumphant addition to a canon that already includes an essay collection, Depth Takes a Holiday (1996), and her much-feted one-woman show, ``Aliens in America.'' If Bronwyn Peters is such a good young liberal, listening to NPR, giving money to good causes and stalwartly maintaining a bohemian lifestyle in the wasteland of Tujunga, a tract-house suburb not far from L.A., how come so many bad things keep happening to her? Once the hip batik-wearing girlfriend of the most successful writing student at San Jose State, Bronwyn is still, six years later (at the onset of the '90s) just ``the girlfriend,'' while writer Paul, whose attempts to sell a screenplay keep bombing, sinks deeper and deeper into a showbiz-induced depression. They're also sinking slowly into debt, but worst of all is Bronwyn's sense that despite Paul's Talent they're really just extras in someone else's movie--two anonymous, black-clad members of ``Los Angeles' vast, undocumented hip,'' with ``the crust of disappointment. . .all over them, the wild-eyed, sunburned despair.'' Yet Paul refuses to share Bronwyn's dream of ditching this city in favor of East Coast academia--even when her women's studies fellowship is canceled in favor of a new minority studies program (``It's the ethnics against the women!'' her advisor whispers). By the time the L.A. riots destroy any chance that Bronwyn and Paul will ever crawl out from under their real estate debt and escape L.A., Bronwyn has realized that she and Paul are simply not destined to win in this world--and that there's not really anything to do about it but get married and live as happily as possible. If some of Loh's comic references are a bit shopworn (corporate promotional parties, showbiz talk), that doesn't mean they aren't dead-on funny and true. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
If you live here, you've seen this all before.,
By
This review is from: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now (Paperback)
Ms. Loh undeniably writes with a crisp, witty style. At her best, she can be a real pleasure to read. This novel is far from her best. It's the old problem--how does one write about the sheer banality of fame and self-expression without seeming hopelessly banal oneself (i.e., merely stylistically banal, and not endearingly, wittily droll)? Ms. Loh does not solve the problem. Here we are treated to all the "usual suspects" of LA pop culture as we've seen them in dozens of novels and indie films for decades--the "poor me" suburban artiste, the "gosh what does our desire for fame do to us" couple, the "things are pretty darn artificial and plastic among people who want to be paid huge sums of money to share their creative musings" riffs. I suppose that because Ms. Loh writes beautifully and has a fine sense of humor, I kept wishing she had something to say....but every time I kept wishing for a bit of spiritual epiphany, or perhaps even a little common humanity, I perceived instead another cliche or cheap shot joke. It's a bit like listening to Celine Dion sing--the voice may be golden, but the words should be parked across the street someplace. While one might suggest that Ms. Dion try a better lyricist (somebody with a truly spiritual streak or at least a wicked sense of humor--Bill Nelson, Ron Mael<g>?), it is difficult to know what to suggest to Ms. Loh. One can't help but wonder (not only as to this novel, but in other contexts as well) if this great comic gift might not be better used in pursuit of something a little less mean-spirited. As for the reader, I suggest you read instead Depth Takes a Holiday, her much more effective collection from her Buzz Magazine days. Sandra Tsing Loh may have a real novel in her someday, but this one is not that novel.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A quick, entertaining read,
By A Customer
This review is from: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now (Paperback)
I read this book for my monthly book group and I was surprised at how fast it was! I read the book in two short nights and laughed to myself several times. I often noticed similaries between Bronwyn and myself especially with the Trader Joe's phenomenon. As a twenty-something, I found Bronwyn's 'boho' lifestyle much more appealing than the one she aspired to achieve. I laughed out loud as Bronwyn not so subtlely demanded recognition for her efforts to climb the social ladder. Where in the world does that silly ladder lead anyway? I was a little disappointed with the ending. I wanted Bronwyn and Paul to sell their Geo and reclaim their decrepid VW!
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wannabees are disillusioned,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now (Paperback)
Bronwyn and her hussband Paul and his brother Jonathan are idealistic but ambitious intellectuals living in Los Angeles. They become involved in series of ventures that fail and trends that prove disappointing. Attempts to complete a PhD, get a tenured academic post, write a novel, sell a screen play, make money in real estate, and start a computer software company each end in failure. Each new fashion becomes outmoded. They are contrasted with Paul's parents who live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and winter in Florida in steady unglamorous prosperity. The parents work and save, celebrate a fiftieth wedding anniversary, and go to church on Sundays. The satire is sharp but not savage, and most of the characters are nice people. The book culminates in the liberal ambivalence produced by the Watts riots and drifts to an inconclusive ending. I'm glad she resisted the temptation to a dramatic tragic ending but would have liked to have known more of what became of Paul and Bronwyn.
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