The Bones

After finding some entertainment in The Angry Buddhist, I tried another Seth Greenland book, but I was less impressed with this one. It’s an LA story of parasitic and opportunistic relationships of people who are seeking wealth and fame. There was no strong ethical male figure as is found in so many of the MRB blog. Frank Bones is an aging comedian, one who has been making a living but has never really made it big. Frank knows that he deserves to be a star. When he was still in New York, Frank ran into Lloyd Melnick, a not-too-talented writer. Unlike Frank, Lloyd has hit it really big by happening to be in the right place at the right time. Lloyd knows that he has been very lucky and does not deserve the fortune he has made. Both men are romantically involved with social mountaineering women. Some of the dialogue was fun. There was one scene between Frank and his girlfriend, Honey Call (really), an aspiring but untalented actress. They are having a morning together. Nearly naked, she microwaves mac and cheese for the two of them for breakfast. The author reveals that her pubic hair is shaved in the shape of a heart, but then, she insists they say a prayer before beginning the meal. That was enough absurdity to keep me reading for a while. Alas, halfway through the book, no crime had yet occurred. Given that this is mostly a crime-genre blog, the biggest crime may be that I bought the book. I put the book down, couldn’t stand it any more. It does not get my recommendation, and I don’t have plans to spend more time with Mr. Greenland.