When I was 24 someone from Carsey-Werner saw a comedy show I did at a small theater in New York and had one of their LA people call me. Six years later, I still don't understand a word that was said. Moreover, every phone in LA must be tapped, because not long after Carsey-Werner called to say nothing, Comedy Central called to say nothing. Then Disney. Disney called to say they'd heard that Comedy Central had called. Apparently, this makes sense in LA. Bizarre, no? Well, my little Hollywood adventure pales in comparison to FORTUNE AND GLORY, both in scope and comedic value.
FORTUNE AND GLORY is Brian Michael Bendis' painfully entertaining memoir of shopping his screenplay adaptation of Goldfish around Hollyweird. Bendis has an uncanny ear for dialogue in all of his books, but he's never better than right here. You get the feeling he had a tape-recorder in his pocket at every meeting. What's particularly charming about FORTUNE AND GLORY, though, is that Bendis never stops loving the movie machine. The whole process befuddles him, yes, but he remains grounded and amused throughout. And that allows us to enjoy the ride right along with him.
I want to buy copies of F&G for everyone I know in the entertainment industry. In fact, I think they should issue copies at LAX to anyone who deplanes with anything vaguely resembling a dream.
Kelly Sue DeConnick relocated from Brooklyn, New York to Kansas City, MO, where she lives with her husband and artbomb.net colleague, Matt Fraction. Kelly Sue writes the English adaptations of several manga titles published by Tokyopop and Viz. She can be found on the web at kellysue.com.
