Close Relationships with Strangers
A Novel
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Close Relationships with Strangers follows a Las Vegas wildlife photographer who moves to Los Angeles to become a paparazzo and in the process loses his relationships, his morals, and eventually his tether to reality.
Reviled by celebrities and the public, Ben is one of the last remaining paparazzi scouring the streets of Los Angeles. Amateurs with camera phones, social media, and a lack of bonafide stars have slowly killed a once essential role in the Hollywood apparatus. Jack Whitlock is one of the last remaining A-listers, and Ben has followed his career since the years he spent bussing tables at a diner in Las Vegas where his most popular movie once filmed a scene.
When Jack Whitlock is suddenly embroiled in a sex scandal, Ben begins his pursuit, eager for both a big paycheck and a chance to be close to the elusive star. Along the way, he is haunted by mistakes from his past: the photos he took of a pop star that have led to death threats, the ghost of his failed relationship with a burlesque dancer named Ellory, and his abandoned dream of being a wildlife photographer.
Searing and propulsive, Close Relationships with Strangers is a behind the lens tour-de-force through the streets of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the desert in between, as readers follow Ben, unrelenting, obsessive, and wry, on a quest that will lead either to his redemption or demise.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A struggling photographer falls further into a downward spiral when he fixates on a missing celebrity, in Diamond's unsettling debut. At the outset, 20-something Ben toils at service jobs in Las Vegas while longing to be a wildlife photographer. After learning about the money to be made as a paparazzo, he moves to Los Angeles, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend, Ellory. Three years later, Ellory is out of the picture, and Ben has stoked controversy with a photo of pop star Mia Luna for reasons that come out later. When Ben learns A-lister Jack Whitlock has gone missing after he was caught having an affair with a much younger woman, he sets out to find Jack. Not only is Ben seeking a big payday, but he idolizes Jack and hopes to become part of his orbit. As Ben works his contacts in search of Jack, he ignores increasingly menacing text messages from angry Mia Luna superfans. The conclusion is abrupt, but Diamond convincingly brings to life the amoral Ben and his eroded sense of self ("I can watch the celebrity news without feeling like it's the kind of hard-core pornography you'd switch off at the sound of keys at the door"). It's a distinctive character portrait.
