One of the most remarkably inventive voices of his generation, author
Will Self delivers a new and stunning work of fiction. In Walking to
Hollywood, a British writer named Will Self goes on a quest through LA
freeways and eroding English cliffs, skewering celebrity as he attempts
to solve a crime: who killed the movies.
When Will reconnects with his childhood friend, the world suddenly seems
disproportionate. Sherman Oaks, scarcely three feet tall at 45, and his
ironically sized sculptures--replicas of his body varying from the
gargantuan to the minuscule--spark in Will a flurry of
obsessive-compulsive thoughts and a nagging desire to experience the
world by foot. Ignoring his therapist and nemesis Zack Busner, Self
travels to Hollywood on a mission to discover who--or what--killed the
movies. Convinced that everyone from his agent to his friends and bums
on the street are portrayed by famous actors, Self goes undercover into
the dangerous world of celebrity culture. He circumambulates the
metropolitan area in hallucinating and wild episodes, eventually
arriving on the English cliffs of East Yorkshire, where he comes face to
face with one of Jonathan Swift's immortal Struldbruggs.
A satirical novel of otherworldly proportion and literary brilliance,
Walking to Hollywood is a fantastical and unforgettable trip through
the unreality of our culture.
