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Overview
New York career woman Stacey Knight marries James Makepeace just as she learns he's been offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run a major Hollywood studio. There's one catch: they must relocate to Los Angeles. Will Stacey be lost in translation, or will her hard-earned New Yawk survival skills prove yet again, as Ol' Blue Eyes so often said, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere?
The unwitting newlyweds land in a Technicolor high-stakes Social War, pursued by ruthless power brokers in the film demimonde. What's a girl to do when the promise of a glittering blockbuster future descends rapidly into film noir despair? At once seduced and repelled by the rigid caste system and predatory aspect of Hollywood life, Stacey navigates a sea of confusing social obstacles and extremely bad behavior. Empowered by 2,500-year-old military strategist Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Stacey takes control of the War Game and learns that they must adapt to survive and attack if they are to thrive.
Synopsis
"A HILARIOUSLY WITTY ACCOUNT OF HOLLYWOOD'S SOCIAL BATTLEGROUND....THE ART OF SOCIAL WAR DELIVERS A KNOCKOUT PUNCH! THEA ANDREWS, CORRESPONDENT FOR ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
"SAUCY AND FULL OF BITING WIT....HILARIOUS AND DEADLY AND FUN TO THE BITTER END!" MIMI ROGERS
"I COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!" KIM DELANEY
New York career woman Stacey Knight marries James Makepeace just as he learns he's offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run a major Hollywood studio. There's one catch: they must relocate to Los Angeles. Will Stacey be lost in translation, or will her hard-earned New Yawk survival skills prove yet again, as Ol' Blue Eyes so often said, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere?
The unwitting newlyweds land in a Technicolor high-stakes Social War, pursued by ruthless power brokers in the film demimode. What's a girl to do when the promise of a glittering blockbuster future descends rapidly into a film noir despair? At once seduced and repelled by the rigid caste system and predatory aspect of Hollywood life, Stacey navigates a sea of confusing social obstacles and extremely bad behavior. Empowered by 2,500-year-old military strategist Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Stacey takes control of the War Game and learns that they must adapt to survive and attack if they are to thrive.
Publishers Weekly
In her debut novel, Wing uses Sun-Tzu's classic The Art of War and her own difficult transition from New York to L.A. to craft a brainy, satiric chick lit novel that forgoes a typical looking-for-love plot in favor of a happy-couple-against-the-world story. Tried and true New Yorker Stacey Knight is marrying the man of her dreams, businessman Jamie, who recently acquired a sinking Hollywood studio, necessitating their move to L.A. During the wedding reception, however, the antagonistic "Trio of Terror" studio heads Simon, Barb and Phil volley the first shot in a smooth but sinister dinner toast. As her enemies go all out, Stacy plays the victim for an irritating length of time before getting wise. The twists and turns, once they become clear, are entertaining, but Wing's characters aren't terribly likable, especially compared to some of the well-drawn minor characters. Though her concept, weaving in passages from Sun Tzu, is clever, the read slows to a crawl under the weight of difficult-to-follow conversations, a strange narrative style and frequent use of two-dollar words. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
Aaron Sorkin
"Jodi Wing’s debut novel—The Art of Social War—is a satirical home run. A hilarious and dead-on exploration of the people who run Hollywood and those who try their best to love them. You won’t be able to put it down."Carol Wolper
"THE ART OF SOCIAL WAR is a smart, witty, yet cautionary tale... Jodi Wing’s newcomer-turned-insider narrative is a look at what happens when girl world intersects with the boys club in a town where winning is everything."Mimi Rogers
"Saucy and full of biting wit, Jodi Wing’s THE ART OF SOCIAL WAR is about as much fun as you can have reading words off a printed page. Like a BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES crossed with MEAN GIRLS, it’s hilarious and deadly and fun to the bitter end!"Thea Andrews
"The gloves are off in Jodi Wing’s hilariously witty account of Hollywood’s social battle ground. For anyone who has ever wondered what it really takes to make it here, THE ART OF SOCIAL WAR delivers a knockout punch!"Kim Delaney
"A sassy, out-spoken woman in Hollywood? What’s not to love? I couldn’t put this book down."Publishers Weekly
In her debut novel, Wing uses Sun-Tzu's classic The Art of War and her own difficult transition from New York to L.A. to craft a brainy, satiric chick lit novel that forgoes a typical looking-for-love plot in favor of a happy-couple-against-the-world story. Tried and true New Yorker Stacey Knight is marrying the man of her dreams, businessman Jamie, who recently acquired a sinking Hollywood studio, necessitating their move to L.A. During the wedding reception, however, the antagonistic "Trio of Terror" studio heads Simon, Barb and Phil volley the first shot in a smooth but sinister dinner toast. As her enemies go all out, Stacy plays the victim for an irritating length of time before getting wise. The twists and turns, once they become clear, are entertaining, but Wing's characters aren't terribly likable, especially compared to some of the well-drawn minor characters. Though her concept, weaving in passages from Sun Tzu, is clever, the read slows to a crawl under the weight of difficult-to-follow conversations, a strange narrative style and frequent use of two-dollar words. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Kirkus Reviews
An effective, if not wholly original first novel, about the shark-infested waters of Hollywood—and that would be mostly lady sharks.
It's the end of 2001 and nice girl Stacey is preparing for Mayor Rudy Giuliani's staff farewell party. What begins as a celebratory evening ends with a bombshell: the conglomerate her fiancé works for has acquired a movie company and they're moving to Los Angeles. It shouldn't be too bad—a house in Beverly Hills, year-round sunshine, a happy husband—but for this independent New York girl, all she can imagine is the worst, and as luck would have it, that's what she gets. The main obstacle between Stacey and happiness is Julia and Simon Mallis, the old owners of Pacificus. Kept on as consultants until the end of the next year, they begin waging war at Jamey and Stacey's New York wedding (they rearrange the seating cards and take over as the entertainment). With Sun Tzu's The Art of War in hand, Simon intends to have it all—cash from the company's buyout and a hands-on role in its running. Unfortunately the battle moves to the home front and Stacey is the sole combatant. Wing skewers the absurdities of Hollywood life, and there is an abundance of raw material: charity benefits for odd diseases (helping excessively sweaty children is the cause du jour), daily color consultations (one wouldn't want to show up at the Polo Lounge in chartreuse when clearly it's a magenta day) and the oh-so-necessary study of Kabbalah. Stacey's new social circle of Hollywood wives live a sad, parasitic life; their sole source of accomplishment is in one-upping each other in designer goods and plastic surgery. When Jamey and Stacey discover their house has been bugged,Stacey hatches a plan that will finally rid them of the comically malevolent Simon and Julia.
Wing, no stranger to clunky phrasing (Stacey and her housekeeper sit "reasonably companionably"), nevertheless has good fun with the wackiness of Hollywood lives.