The Second Assistant: A Tale from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder
by Clare Naylor, Mimi Hare
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Book Summary Information
Author: Clare Naylor, Mimi HareEdition: Hardcover
Published: 2004-05
ISBN: 0670033073
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Viking Adult
Book Reviews of The Second Assistant: A Tale from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder
Book Review: Yet another insider slice of life story...
Summary: 3 Stars
I believe this book marks the fifth chick lit/insider scoop book of its kind that I've read - the others being The Nanny Diaries (Nannying), The Twins of Tribeca (Being an assistant at a movie studio), The Devil Wears Prada (Being an assistant at a fashion magazine), and the Perfect Manhattan (Being a bartender in the Hamptons). I have to say that it probably ranks at the bottom of my list in terms of interest - next to The Devil Wears Prada which is made only slightly better by its excellent movie counterpart.
The story doesn't even try to mask itself as anything else than the story of an assistant to a major talent agency figurehead (a drug-addled reckless permanent kid at heart named Scott). All of the standards of this type of story are in place - the snooty yet somehow forgiving coworker, the glamorous party scenarios and pseudonymic name dropping, and of course the tangled mix of love interests from the scary to the creepy to the smarmy to the obvious winner, the boy next door type.
The main plot elements centre around Lizzie, the main character, coming to grips with her decision to leave her righteous-minded job as a political assistant to follow her dream of doing...something...in Hollywood, which ends up being a Hollywood assistant. Along the way she must contend with workplace backstabbing and gossip, many a potential love interest, and figuring out a long-term direction for her future, which may involve the assistance of an up and coming screenwriter turned coffee barista. Of course many a catastrophe causes upsets in all 3 areas - career, friends, and love - and that is about all the plot (sort of) consists of.
Altogether this is an average book riding the coat tails of the aforementioned insider slice of life books. If you want to read yet another book of this type, then you'll probably enjoy the story - it was a bit better than I had anticipated I'll admit - but if you're tired of chick lit, boring and predictable premises, and bland writing, then skip it.
Summary of The Second Assistant: A Tale from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder
If contemporary fiction has one thing to teach us, it's that working for the rich and glamorous is a living hell. This simple truth has already been revealed by such books as The Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada, but for those who feel that the message bears repeating, Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare's The Second Assistant: Tales from the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder offers yet another enjoyable (though fairly forgettable) lesson.The heroine of this gossipy tale is Elizabeth Miller, a young, former campaign worker for a US congressman who finds herself between employment opportunities. Unable to obtain any more socially responsible work, Lizzie is lured into the job of second assistant to an executive at a glitzy Hollywood agency. Once there, she's hit with all the "pick-up my dry cleaning," "walk my dog," "hire strippers for my party" torment that the higher-ups can dish out. At first Elizabeth is isolated, out-of-place, and underdressed in her new world, but she makes friends, builds her wardrobe, and eventually grows to care for her menial job, her Ritalin-snorting boss, and the entertainment industry in general. Finally, she reaches the conclusion that thousands of other Californians have before her: what she really wants to do is produce. At times, Lizzie seems far too na?ve to survive long in the shark-infested waters that the authors describe, but there can be only one kind of ending to such a light-hearted book, so we know she will somehow muddle through. Hare (who was once a Hollywood executive herself) and Naylor throw in a dreamy guy and a few plot twists that most readers could see coming from space, stir, and serve. Of course, a little frivolity is not a bad thing, and The Second Assistant is certainly an entertaining addition the new underling subgenre of modern fiction. --Leah Weathersby
No political science degree could ever prepare Elizabeth Miller for her new job as second assistant at The Agency, whose clients include everyone you?ve never met?but you know who they?re sleeping with. A former congressional intern in Washington, Lizzie makes a bid for a life change that lands her a job a world away, where ethics and First Amendment debates take a backseat to pleading the Fifth for ritalin-snorting boss Scott Wagner, the hottest young agent in Hollywood who devotes his days to playing online poker?that is, when he?s not closing a $30 million deal for one of his AAA-list clients. And while getting six hundred dollar highlights from Cameron D?s colorist or organizing the strippers for George C?s party come close to causing heart failure for this East Coast girl, the real dangers lurk elsewhere. But Lizzie is a survivor, and no Machiavellian assistant, lecherous producer, or power struggle at The Agency can douse her nascent dreams of climbing up the Hollywood ladder. But first she has to run down to the Coffee Bean to pick up that triple espresso, or Scott is going to throw something....
For anyone who loved The Nanny Diaries or The Devil Wears Prada, The Second Assistant is a compulsively readable novel and a gleeful skewering of Tinsel Town packed with outrageous, thinly veiled stories about the deranged, the dastardly, and the unspeakably glamorous that will have tongues wagging from coast to coast.
"No political science degree could ever prepare Elizabeth Miller for her new job as second assistant at The Agency, whose clients include everyone you've never met-but you know who they're sleeping with. A former congressional intern in Washington, Lizzie makes a bid for a life change that lands her a job a world away, where ethics and First Amendment debates take a backseat to pleading the Fifth for ritalin-snorting boss Scott Wagner, the hottest young agent in Hollywood who devotes his days to playing online poker-that is, when he's not closing a $30 million deal for one of his AAA-list clients. And while getting six hundred dollar highlights from Cameron D's colorist or organizing the strippers for George C's party come close to causing heart failure for this East Coast girl, the real dangers lurk elsewhere. But Lizzie is a survivor, and no Machiavellian assistant, lecherous producer, or power struggle at The Agency can douse her nascent dreams of climbing up the Hollywood ladder. But first she has to run down to the Coffee Bean to pick up that triple espresso, or Scott is going to throw something.... For anyone who loved The Nanny Diaries or The Devil Wears Prada, The Second Assistant is a compulsively readable novel and a gleeful skewering of Tinsel Town packed with outrageous, thinly veiled stories about the deranged, the dastardly, and the unspeakably glamorous that will have tongues wagging from coast to coast."
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