I'm Glad About You

January 18, 2016
Showbiz maven Rebeck paints a pretty bleak picture of Hollywood in this breezy, eye-opening behind-the-scenes expose of what it means to be a star in today's fast-paced, media-blitzing celebrity world. Alison Moore leaves her Cincinnati home, and, not incidentally, Kyle Wallace, the high school boyfriend with whom she's had a tumultuous, on-again/off-again relationship for yearsâcomplicated by his strict conformity to Catholicismâand follows her dream of being an actor. A bit part in a New York City-based television drama propels her into a leading role in a TV series, and then she gets a big break to star in a major motion picture. Kyle, now a pediatrician, finds himself on the rebound in the clutches of a manipulative woman who engineers a whirlwind romance and marriage; but he and Alison, who periodically run into each other when she comes back to Cincinnati, never lose the spark between them. Rebeck takes on a lot, including the vagaries of entertainment media which can be the catalyst to overnight success and failure, as well as the problematic impact religion has on Kyle's life choices. Still, she entertainingly gets her message across that celebrity is not as fabulous as it looks and that people who follow their dreams need to stay true to themselves to find true happiness.

Starred review from December 1, 2015
A rare honest story about love, ambition, and compromise. "But what is a demimonde, anyway?" asks Alison Moore in the opening line of this novel by Rebeck, the creator of TV's Smash and a widely produced playwright. Rebeck's insider knowledge of the demimonde of entertainment and celebrity is put to excellent use as she tracks the upward trajectory of a young actress from Cincinnati, from cattle-call auditions for a two-line role through a lead in a television series and to the brink of Hollywood superstardom. Every type in showbiz is unmasked here, from the writer--"It's only two lines but there has to be stakes"--to the columnist--"Hi Jessica, you look fantastic! Can I grab you for a few minutes to talk about your know-nothing role as a gun-toting whore in Evil Dead 12?"--to the actress herself, "light-headed with hunger all the time" on the orders of her agent: "Beautiful food is for you to look at, and other people to eat." While her stock goes up careerwise, Alison's personal life is in free-fall. The decision to move to New York abruptly ended her relationship with her high school sweetheart, Kyle, and their inability to recover ends up warping both of their lives. An idealistic doctor and a committed Catholic, shellshocked Kyle ends up in a pediatric practice catering to entitled suburbanites and, worse, married to a woman he doesn't love. Every time Alison comes home for a visit, they run into each other and bad things happen. Though she's something of a black sheep in her extended family, where grandchildren Nos. 24 and 25 are on the way, Alison identifies deeply with the Midwest itself, its culture, its values, its nice people with good manners. Even the parties are better, in her opinion. The snappy dialogue and plot you'd expect from a veteran dramatist plus the rich exploration of character that novels are made for.

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January 1, 2016
Like Nick Hornby and David Nicholls, Rebeck possesses an effortless prose style that edifies as much as it entertains. In her third novel (after Twelve Rooms with a View, 2010) and fresh off her stint as the creator of the now-canceled TV series Smash, Rebeck presents a tender comic novel about the years-long love affair between aspiring actress Alison and pediatrician Kyle. The two midwesterners fall in love in high school though Kyle's Catholic faith plays a major part in keeping them chaste. That combined with Alison's overweening ambition to make it big in New York City conspire to break the couple up, though they keep getting back together until a spectacular fight finally severs their bond for good. Now Alison has landed a major part in a TV series, and Kyle, brokenhearted, marries a beautiful blonde and joins a pediatric practice. When the two finally meet face-to-face during a Christmas party, their unassailable attraction gives them both pause and causes a rift in Kyle's marriage. Rebeck delivers some hilarious riffs on the venal nature of show business, even as she also imparts some hard truths on the need for compromise in relationships.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2016

"You never get over your first love" seems to be the premise of this novel, which follows volatile high school sweethearts Alison and Kyle after they break up for the last time. Alison makes a beeline from the Midwest to New York City, determined to become a serious actress. Kyle, who had stubbornly clung to his Catholic virginity despite years of torment with Alison, sheds it without hesitation with the first woman to throw herself at him. Within months, he's married and locked in a loveless relationship. Meanwhile, Alison lands a plum acting role. But not all is rosy as she's faced with her own set of choices that similarly strain her integrity. Trips home for holidays give the two opportunities to cross paths, but it's one miss after another. Add in Dennis, a creepy hometown "friend" and the result is uneven. Kyle is supposed to be spiritual and wholesome, but mostly he's cold and vindictive. VERDICT In her third novel (after Twelve Rooms with a View), Rebeck is strongest when portraying Alison's experiences in Hollywood after she's discovered in New York, no surprise given her screenwriting credentials as the creator of the television series Smash. [See Prepub Alert, 9/21/15.]--Christine Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2015

Rebeck, creator of the NBC drama Smash and a Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright, offers a novel of dreams gone to pieces. Alison and Kyle feel a certain resonance when they meet in high school, but she's soon off to New York and stardom as an actor (though it's not all glitter), while he's left in Ohio, straitjacketed into suburbia and an unhappy marriage.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.