Straight White Male
A Novel
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4.8 • 5 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of Kill Your Friends, a wildly funny look at the midlife crisis of a loveable rogue. “A high-octane novel of excess” (Ian Rankin).
Irish novelist Kennedy Marr is a first rate bad boy. When he is not earning a fortune as one of Hollywood’s most sought after scriptwriters, he is drinking, insulting, and philandering his way through Los Angeles, ‘successfully debunking the myth that men are unable to multitask.’ He is loved by many women, but loathed by even more including ex-wives on both sides of the pond.
Kennedy’s appetite for trouble is insatiable, but when he discovers that he owes 1.4 million dollars in back taxes, it seems his outrageous, hedonistic lifestyle may not be as sustainable as he thought. Forced to accept a teaching position at sleepy Deeping University, where his ex-wife and teenaged daughter now reside, Kennedy returns to England with a paper trail of tabloid headlines and scorned starlets hot on his bespoke heels. However, as he acclimatizes to the quaint campus Kennedy is forced to reconsider his laddish lifestyle. Incredible as it may seem, there might actually be a father and a teacher lurking inside this ‘preening, narcissistic, priapic sociopath’.
“A sharp and knowing satire of the film industry, publishing and academia.” —The Guardian
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As this boisterous novel from Scottish author Niven (Kill Your Friends) begins, once-promising Irish novelist Kennedy Marr is leading a life of excess in Hollywood, where he squanders his talent working on screenplays because they pay better than novels. Kennedy, burdened by overextended writing commitments and a $1.4 million tax debt, finds escape in the form of a literary grant offered by Deeping University in Warwickshire. But there's a catch: Kennedy must also lecture at the school, near the home of his ex-wife, Millie, and 16-year-old daughter, Robin. Kennedy tries to make a go at his new job and begins an affair with one of his students. But just when he thinks he's escaped Hollywood, a movie shoot at Pinewood Studios drags him back. And then there's the matter of his mother dying in an Irish hospital. With such a full plate, will Kennedy be able to see his way clear to a new life? Niven simultaneously satirizes Hollywood and academia and scores solid points against both. Although the story is rather predictable and Kennedy's last-ditch epiphany feels forced, readers looking for a ferociously funny read will enjoy his company.
