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The Manhattan Beach Project: A Novel
The Manhattan Beach Project: A Novel
The Manhattan Beach Project: A Novel
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The Manhattan Beach Project: A Novel

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Barely four years after winning an Oscar, Charlie has sunk into the ranks of Hollywood bottom-feeders -- reduced to living in his nephew's pool house, kiting checks and taking the bus to his weekly Debtors Anonymous meeting, where he meets a mysterious ex-CIA agent who proposes to resuscitate Charlie's foundering career -- in the beyond surreal world of reality TV.
Charlie puts his tap shoes on to sell a show about a ruthless Uzbek warlord and his family ("think The Osbournes meets The Sopranos") to a rogue division of ABC, known as ABCD, which operates out of a skunkworks in Manhattan Beach, California, and whose mandate is to develop, under top secret cover like that for the Manhattan Project, extreme reality TV shows to bolster the network's ratings.
Warlord becomes a breakout hit and results not only in causing one of America's largest entertainment conglomerates to go into full damage-control mode but also in shifting the balance of power in Central Asia and in proving that in show business it's not over till the mouse sings.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 9, 2005
ISBN9780743271769
The Manhattan Beach Project: A Novel
Author

Peter Lefcourt

Peter Lefcourt is the author of six previous novels: Eleven Karens, The Woody, Abbreviating Ernie, Di and I, The Dreyfus Affair and The Deal. He is also an award-winning writer for film and television. He lives in Los Angeles.

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Charlie is a washed out Hollywood producer sinking into debt with no way out. Then a mysterious man shows up at his Debtor's Anonymous meeting with an offer he can't refuse. Soon Charlie is deeply mired in a reality show about an Uzbek warlord, madly dodging bullets and tweaking subtitles, trying to stay alive and to keep his crazy show alive. Eventually it will all fall apart, the only question is when.Hilarious! The Manhattan Beach Project is the perfect parody of the reality show craze. Peter Lefcourt has no mercy for anyone connected to the show or any aspect of this insane world. Yet his characters are so likable just because they are so flawed. I was cheering for Charlie even as I was groaning at each indiscretion and phony setup.Tom Weiner is the reader for this audio and he does a superb job. His deep, gravely voice adds just the right touch of irony. I highly recommend this audio book if you need a good laugh!

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The Manhattan Beach Project - Peter Lefcourt

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