Double Feature

December 17, 2012
This witty debut novel from King, (We’re All in This Together), son of Stephen, is about film and family. Endearing, irascible Sam Dolan is a young filmmaker with a big father problem—that is, his dad, B-movie actor Booth Dolan, has a personality that’s a big problem. But Sam finds even more trouble when his first film, a magnum opus called Who We Are, is mysteriously, and irrevocably, altered in editing. When Sam throws away the only known copy of the altered film, he sets in motion events that will dog him for a decade. His horribly revamped movie turns up in the mid-2000s and becomes a cult hit, as Sam, permanently disappointed, goes from clerking in a Brooklyn video store to working as a wedding videographer. During one long weekend in 2011, Sam comes to terms with his father and his messy life—with the help of a wry and determined producer, Sam’s foul-mouthed kid sister, Mina, and Wesley Latsch, his odd, housebound best friend/roommate. King’s prose is artful, perceptive about people and their “warrens of self that go beyond understanding,” and sometimes very funny. Agent: Amy Williams, McCormack & Williams.

February 15, 2013

In spring 2002, Sam Dolan is bringing his artistic vision to life: a low-budget, serious film about soul-searching twentysomethings at a small liberal arts college. Sam's cinematic legacy includes his garrulous father, Booth, a B-movie actor who left Sam's mother, Allie, for one of his unstable mistresses. Once Sam's film experiment concludes unexpectedly, the narrative flashes back and forth from his childhood with often-absent Booth to his post-auteur stint as a wedding videographer. Throw in a satyr, a precocious stepsister, and a blogger roommate, and the stage is set for a tender, hilarious first novel from short-fiction writer and educator King (We're All in This Together: A Novella and Stories) that deftly follows the twisted path of family relationships, legacies, and the baggage we all deal with. VERDICT Fans of John Irving, Tom Perrotta, Jonathan Tropper, and Nick Hornby will appreciate this urban family tale liberally dosed with humor. [See Prepub Alert, 9/27/12.]--Jennifer B. Stidham, Baytown, TX

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