Pay or Play

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Pay or Play
a novel by Jon Boorstin

278 pages, 51/2x81/2, 1-890085-04-9, $12.95 paper
“Boorstin has channeled Nathanael West by way of Terry Sothern. The result is funny and true and gives Hollywood and celebrity mythmaking what it deserves.” —David Freeman, author of A Hollywood Education “…convincing and compelling…” — Los Angeles Times “… so good it reads like a documentary even when events are patently absurd and incredible, That’s the fun. And that’s Hollywood. …using wild hyperbole in the service of genuine insight, Boorstin has written the definitive send-up of Hollywood.” — Publishers Weekly “Boorstin is a very good writer, whether he’s describing the particular vibes you get from living too close to an LA freeway or what it’s like to slog through the jungle muck of New Guinea. The book’s two funniest scenes are sex scenes, and when was the last time you read about sex that made you laugh out loud?” —Washington Post “A full scale farce…portraying Hollywood as a place where…good buzz is tantamount to good taste.” —Entertainment Weekly


	One of the Los Angeles Times’ 100 best books of 1997, *Pay or Play* is a wickedly funny satire of the Hollywood film industry and its peculiar marriage of vision and ambition that can breed great accomplishment—or humiliating catastrophe. Screenwriter Elmo Zwalt, his psyche “Like a clenched fist,” was living on peanut butter and bananas atop the Hollywood Freeway when he finally finished his Very Good Script. Better than Shakespeare, or even Ben Hecht, it grabbed you by the throat and hauled you panting and screaming through ninety minutes of sex and violence. Elmo wanted to direct it, but so did every director who wanted to gross a hundred million domestic. As his script goes from concept to celluloid, Elmo pinwheels through the Hollywood populated by silky studio execs, conniving agents, desperate producer, control-freak stars, the Oscar-winning director of a documentary about plywood, and a host of other unforgettable Tinseltown characters. Hollywood insiders like to say that making the movie deal is harder than making the movie. But, as Elmo learns, there are always exceptions.
	Jon Boorstin has worked as producer or screenwriter for most of the major film studios. His documentary films include award-winning work in IMAX and the Oscar-nominated Exploratorium. He has taught screenwriting at institutions around the world, and is the author of the highly praised book of practical film philosophy Making Movies Work.