Show Business Kills

January 30, 1995
The author of Beaches has recycled her bestselling blend of show business and devoted friends tested by tragedy into an involving story of contemporary Hollywood. Best friends since their college days 30 years past, soap opera seductress Jan O'Malley, former sitcom star Marly Bennett, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Rose Morris and studio executive Ellen Bass must face facts: they've now reached the age where their ``drug of choice has become estrogen.'' Confronted with her TV character's possible extinction, Jan is renegotiating her contract with barracuda-like producers, while Marly is auditioning for antacid commercials. Rose's agent wants to find her a ``young'' writing partner, and Ellen is fighting a losing war with a pack of sexually harassing studio honchos. When Jan is shot by a mysterious intruder, the other three investigate old lovers, old friends and old secrets until they discover her attacker's identity. Dart's snappily paced tale is spiced with spot-on doses of black humor, while her insights into female friendships, as always, ring reassuringly true. Even a cliched and familiar conclusion should do nothing to hinder fans' enjoyment. Film rights to Bette Midler's All Girl Productions; author tour.

October 1, 1994
The author of the best-selling Beaches just can't leave Hollywood behind. Her four new heroines-a soap opera diva, a studio executive, a screenwriter, and an actress-don't want to leave Hollywood, either, but since they're all over 40, they're having trouble hanging on.

November 15, 1994
Lacking the pathos of Beaches-despite the soon-to-be-orphaned child of a friend- this novel mixes the "friends since college theme" with some limp elements of the psychological thriller. Here, the friends are four Hollywood players (two actresses, a writer, a producer) fast approaching obsolescence as they near fifty. As they grapple with the dog-eat-dog Hollywood world, falling faces, and encroaching flab, the four contemplate their pasts and try to come to terms with their presents. The shooting of their soap opera friend, Jan, by a thwarted actress from their college days grounds them once again in the things that matter in life. Schmaltzy, yes, but fans may want this novel directed at the "Fear of Fifty" crowd. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/94.]-Francine Fialkoff, "Library Journal"

Copyright 1994 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 1995
When ordinary people grow older in America, odds of success seem to grow dimmer and dimmer. If you're growing older and work in the business of show, you're really in trouble, or so Iris Dart illustrates in her latest novel (note her "Beaches," 1985). Dart's characters prove the point: Jan, a soap opera star, worries that her character will be killed off to make way for a younger actress; Ellen, a studio executive, tries to cope in a very sexist environment; Rose, a screenwriter, grapples with a past success she can't get close to again; and Marly's best career move was to marry a big star. When Jan is shot by an old (and now psychotic) acquaintance, her three friends are forced to reevaluate the directions their lives have taken. Although predictable, the novel has its moments. On another level, it's about struggling to have serious feelings and aspiring to meaningful work when you live and labor in Superficial City, USA. ((Reviewed January 1, 1995))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1995, American Library Association.)