Former Saturday Night Live writers Patricia Marx and Douglas G. McGrath take aim at Hollywood in this wicked, satirical novel about the making of the flop of flops. Through the 1930s and 40s, X. Y. Schwerdloff brought us the best: the best comedies ( Let's Play Golf ), the best dramas ( Surprise Witness ), the best musicals ( Sing-a-ling ), even the best World War II propaganda ( Tokyo, Kansas ). But by the 60s, the legendary Schwerdloff studio had fallen on hard times. To get out of accepting an assignment at the studio, many actors served in Vietnam. Fugitives liked to appear in a Schwerdloff film because they would be safe from being seen. Now, it is up to Bucky Schwerdloff to save his father's studio. He must produce a blockbuster. To do so, he hires the most successful director in Hollywood, Ferris Keneally, whose last film, The Blinkies, broke box office records. Bucky promises Keneally that he can make whatever film he wants. Thus begins the hilarious drama of the most breathtaking flop in Hollywood history. There has never been a film to match Keneally's version of The Pilgrim's Progress, about which one film critic wrote: "You are mesmerized by it . . . the same way you can't take your eyes away from a bad car accident." "One of the most original and witty takeoffs on Hollywood . . . a delicious read."--Judith Crist

While waiting in line for apple pie at a party, Imogene Gilfeather, a lingerie designer who does not understand the reason for romance, meets Wally Yez, a scientist whose business card says “An Answer for Everything.” Imogene is told that Wally is the perfect guy. (“Perfect,” she replies, “is not my type.”) He is told that her company, Featherware, manufactures intimates ( that gets his attention). Unfazed by Imogene’s indifference (who needs love when you have a career, friends, and an undemanding affair with a married man?), Wally resolves to win her over. E-mails turn into late-night phone calls; one date turns into two and then into more. Thus begins the most absurd and amusingly unbalanced relationship to grace the pages of a novel. Wally is certain he and Imogene are meant for each other (They both use mechanical pencils! Neither has had mumps! They are so alike!), but convincing his beloved is another matter. (“Do you know why it is I don’t have pierced ears?” she asks. “Because it’s too permanent.”) In defiance of the odds, or the gods, or perhaps just Imogene’s qualms, Wally and Imogene become a pair. They celebrate their anniversaries—the first time they touched each other on purpose, took public transportation together, saw the other with wet hair. But can they possibly end as happily as they’ve begun? (“Does he really have a cowlick? If yes, no bed will ever be big enough.”) Made up of hundreds of chaplettes, clever illustrations, and darkly funny commentary on getting together and staying the course, Starting from Happy is a cunning and sophisticated send-up of coupledom that showcases one of the finest comic writers of our time.