IT'S ALL TRUE: A Novel of Hollywood

A fictional Adventures in the Screen Trade for the 21st century, Freeman's latest is an appealing Tinseltown tapestry woven from the shifting fortunes of screenwriter Henry Wearie. Henry's been around for years, ever since he sold a screenplay for big bucks (even though the movie never got made). At 53, he's had a roller-coaster career ("I've been hot and cold more times than my oven") and crossed paths with a lively group of Hollywood geniuses, rascals, losers and charmers. But these days, his Jaguar looks like crap and his lapels are shiny. A lunch at posh La Plume with an old flame (which gives Freeman an opportunity to gleefully satirize the Hollywood hierarchy) may mean an uptick in Henry's fortunes. His idea for a screenplay about salesmen—or counterfeiters, or baseball players, whatever is wanted—and aliens nets him an offer from the old flame's studio. Freeman (Hollywood Life ) then flashes back 19 years to a location shoot in Mexico, when Henry was living it up with fast women, good drugs and egomaniacal stars. Not surprisingly, these are among the most engaging moments of this episodic novel. The Hollywood material (such as Henry's daily gab sessions with industry pals at the Farmers Market) is so juicy and entertaining that when Freeman strays to serious topics (such as Henry and his wife's inability to get pregnant, their inevitable breakup or Henry's sullen octogenarian father) it's hard not to be impatient for a return to all those nutty, hungry hustlers. Freeman, himself a screenwriter, crafts a smart, at times moving and very funny novel. Agent, Virginia Barber. (Mar.)

Forecast: Bruce Wagner may be hogging the spotlight these days for his latest novel of Hollywood, the sparkling Still Holding, but Freeman's humbler chronicle deserves its 15 minutes—and just might get it .