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

Clare Naylor is the author of three previous novels, including Love: A User's Guide and Catching Alice.
Mimi Hare was, at twenty-three, the youngest director of development for a Hollywood production company, where she worked on such feature films as Jerry Maguire and As Good As It Gets. This is her first novel.

No political science degree could ever prepare Elizabeth Miller for her new job as a second assistant at The Agency, whose clients include everyone you've never met—but you know who they're sleeping with. A former congressional intern in Washington, Lizzie made a bid for a life change that landed her a job a world away, where ethics and First Amendment debates take a backseat to pleading the Fifth for Ritalin-snorting boss Scott Wagner. He's the hottest young agent in Hollywood, who devotes his days to playing online poker—that is, when he's not closing a $30 million deal for one of his AAA-list clients. And while getting six-hundred-dollar highlights from Cameron's colorist or organizing the strippers for George's birthday party come close to causing heart failure for this East Coast girl, the real dangers lurk elsewhere. But Lizzie is a survivor, and no Machiavellian assistant, lecherous producer, or power struggle at The Agency can douse her nascent dreams of climbing up the Hollywood ladder. But first she has to run down to the Coffee Bean to pick up that triple espresso, or Scott is going to throw something….

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 abound Elizabeth keeps meeting key figures at just the right moment 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. 10-city author tour. (May) Forecast: Naylor (Dog Handling, etc.) and Hare both have plenty of Hollywood cred. Hare worked in development on Jerry Maguire and As Good As It Gets, and the two are authors of a screenplay, The Accidental Husband, which will star Uma Thurman. Their name-dropping and glam lifestyle reporting should snag plenty of browsers. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.