L.A. Fadeaway by Jordan Okun

L.A. Fadeaway by Jordan Okun is a about Hollywood life, told through the eyes of a spoiled twenty-three year old that works at a talent agency in Los Angeles. It is gritty, dark, and often quite raunchy.

Book Description

“The unnamed narrator in L.A. Fadeaway is twenty-three, the son of a studio head, rich, entitled, and working in the trainee program of the hottest talent agency in Los Angeles. Fueled by massive quantities of unchecked ambition and attitude, he has one goal: become an agent and take over Hollywood. 

Yet in spite of his cocky-cool demeanor, living the “life” is not all it’s cracked up to be. This born and bred boy of la-la land is consumed with constant anxiety, which he dulls with the usual tools of the trade: Xanax, alcohol, pot, and porn. He knows all too well that Hollywood is a zero-sum game: the only way to get power is to take it. The question is how low is he willing to go in order to ascend the Hollywood canyons—and will his determination to follow in his father’s footsteps change after the discovery of an awful family secret? 

Ready to take his rightful place in the canon with Sammy Glick, L.A. Fadeaway’s enigmatic hero takes readers deep into this dark, star-filled subculture with a hilarious, brutally honest, and unfiltered eye. In L.A. Fadeaway, never has Hollywood been so frightening— or fun.” – L.A. Fadeaway

My Thoughts

L.A. Fadeaway is honestly not the typical type of book I’d read. I figured I’d give it a try though, it sounded good, and who doesn’t like a Hollywood story? Well, after the first page I realized that this book was going to test my reading abilities with patience.

The main character is not someone I’d like. He is rude, obnoxious, and the type that I’d quite seriously want to punch in the face if I met in real life. I didn’t grow to like him the more I read, and the other people in the book, I disliked just as much.

This novel is more of a satirical look on Hollywood and the people that are in it though. The characters have big personalities and even bigger egos. The author was actually in the job of the main character, and he does include some true stories. What is left to wonder about this though is what was “real” and what was excessively over dramatized for the book?

Overall, I honestly didn’t enjoy this novel. It just wasn’t my preferred type of reading material. However, if you like raunchy, edgy, and male toilet-trash-talking, you’ll love this book.

* Thank you to the publisher of L.A. Fadeaway, Touchstone, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.