The Second Assistant: A Tale from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Mimi Hare (Author) "Your job will be to separate the white thumbtacks from the colored ones..." (more)
Key Phrases: The Agency, Jake Hudson, Luke Lloyd (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If contemporary fiction has one thing to teach us, it's that working for the rich and glamorous is a living hell. This simple truth has already been revealed by such books as The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada, but for those who feel that the message bears repeating, Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare's The Second Assistant: Tales from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder offers yet another enjoyable (though fairly forgettable) lesson.

The heroine of this gossipy tale is Elizabeth Miller, a young, former campaign worker for a US congressman who finds herself between employment opportunities. Unable to obtain any more socially responsible work, Lizzie is lured into the job of second assistant to an executive at a glitzy Hollywood agency. Once there, she's hit with all the "pick-up my dry cleaning," "walk my dog," "hire strippers for my party" torment that the higher-ups can dish out. At first Elizabeth is isolated, out-of-place, and underdressed in her new world, but she makes friends, builds her wardrobe, and eventually grows to care for her menial job, her Ritalin-snorting boss, and the entertainment industry in general. Finally, she reaches the conclusion that thousands of other Californians have before her: what she really wants to do is produce. At times, Lizzie seems far too naïve to survive long in the shark-infested waters that the authors describe, but there can be only one kind of ending to such a light-hearted book, so we know she will somehow muddle through. Hare (who was once a Hollywood executive herself) and Naylor throw in a dreamy guy and a few plot twists that most readers could see coming from space, stir, and serve. Of course, a little frivolity is not a bad thing, and The Second Assistant is certainly an entertaining addition the new underling subgenre of modern fiction. --Leah Weathersby

From Publishers Weekly

Books about bright young women learning the ropes of glamorous careers under corrosively evil bosses are catnip to a generation of readers, so this West Coast version of The Devil Wears Prada fills a niche, with brio. Elizabeth Miller gives up an idealistic job as a Washington senator's aide to join the Agency, a super-powerful Hollywood outfit that represents stars, producers and directors. The young L.A. newcomer may not be as clearheaded and full of self-knowledge as she's intended to be (she does jump topless into the agency head's pool with a lecherous producer), but she's a paragon of virtue compared to her boss, Scott Wagner, who is loutish, sex-obsessed, terminally addicted to any abusable substance, lazy and overbearing. Despite her misgivings and scads of unjustified abuse, Elizabeth throws herself into Xeroxing and party planning ("Dancers from Crazy Girls on La Brea. Though only small-nippled girls") and is rewarded by brushes with a parade of A-list personalities (Cameron, Jennifer, George, Harvey). The insider peeks at Tinseltown are more engrossing than the plot, but a hot script and backroom Agency dealings keep the pages turning. Contrivances aboundâ€"Elizabeth keeps meeting key figures at just the right momentâ€"and the jokes often fall flat. The book undoes itself by offering as chapter headings some of the great dialogue from old movies ("What's the going price on integrity this week?"), and there's simply no comparison between what those old scriptwriters and these joint authors offer up. Still, this is a fast, fun, trashy read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; Stated First Edition edition (May 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670033073
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033072
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #628,964 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chick Lit Goes Hollywood!, May 16, 2004

By	crazyforgems (Wellesley, MA United States) - See all my reviews

"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!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for girls!, May 20, 2004

By	Craven Morehead (london United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

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.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun book with seriously accurate "advice" for hollywood-be's, August 17, 2004

By	Gwen A Orel (Millburn, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.