I do not like to leave negative reviews. I just couldn’t get into this book and it became a dnf. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

I have been procrastinating on writing a review for this book, as I had a hard time finishing it. Despite my efforts, I really couldn't get through it.

Books surrounding reality tv, hollywood, etc are often a hit or miss for me. And this plot and writing was a miss.

An extremely quirky book and I loved it.
Many thanks to Red Hen Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Definitely a mixed feeling on this one. Not sure if I liked it fully or perhaps disliked parts of it but unfortunately when a book confuses me I'm not to suggest it to other which is not something I like for sure.

I couldn’t get into this book. I agree with one of the other reviewers that I was disgusted by some of the “man talk”. It was interesting to look at things from a different perspective, though. Thanks for letting me check it out!

I thought that I was going to like this book because I found it interesting and amusing at first, but I ended up not being able to finish it. While I liked the way the author has the narrator "talking to" the reader, the long periods of men being disgusting pigs was a big turn off for me. If they had been broked up a little more often, if would have helped, but the long stretches of the crap being spewed by the producers were just too much to deal with.

The scene is central Florida, on location for a crew filming a new TV series. The narrator is the head writer for the series, and he proceeds to fall in love with the hooker with a heart of gold and a PhD sociology thesis in the making. The setup sounds trite but isn't, and the author plumbs the depths of their odd and yet rewarding relationship as they move from client to true romance. The flowery descriptions of the behind-the-scenes making of the series has much verisimilitude (mainly because the author has done the job himself) and while it can get tedious the plot moves along some pretty fantastical moments. I enjoyed the characters and the numerous plot twists, and highly recommend this novel.

This is OK. It didn't connect with the writing style, which seemed somewhat disjointed and uneven at times. I think this one will get accumulate mixed reviews.

Thanks very much for the free review copy!

I had high hopes for this book and it fell short. It might have been the formatting of the ARC but it was very choppy and disjointed it. I kept getting confused by who "she" was in the beginning. I couldn't get into it. I did finish it and it got better towards the end but there was no real connection to the book.

Attracted by the title and cover art, I thought I’d get a comic caper and instead got a jumbled meaning of life book—one that ended without any insight or analysis on the topic. I can’t tell if there was any point to the book, who it was intended for, or whether it was intended as an imaginary flight of fancy—not as a coherent story. I find myself wishing I had not finished it; it didn’t get any better as I read on.

Nicole is a stripper whose name and persona change with each wig she wears. Liam is a TV script writer who visits strip clubs to have deep philosophical conversations. Nicole puts Liam through ‘tests,’ and he obsesses about her…

The book tries to be existential and satirical and apply sex metaphors to everything (and I do mean everything), and features made-up words, inside jokes, and many asides directed to the reader. The characters appear to be laughing at everyone else…they repeatedly compare others to monkeys, and act like they think they are smarter, and more worldly than anyone else. Maybe philosophy majors could better understand this book. Most of it flew right over my head.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one and ended up setting it aside pretty early on.

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.

Loved the title of this one. Kind of apropos considering the storyline. This is a book lover’s book. So many references to classic novels in this one.

Liam, William, Willie, Billy is a writer for television. He has many different names depending on whom he is speaking to at the time. Currently he is employed by a show that will be starting production in Florida. He is flown down to Florida and put up in a nicer hotel for pre-production. When his executive producers show up in Florida, they want to go out for an evening on the town.

This evening on the town finds them in a Gentleman’s Club, the last place Liam wants to be. Especially considering that the two EPs are pompous, officious jerks. Then Cynthia is on stage dancing. After she is at their table. Liam is taken by Cynthia to a private booth where they have a conversation that is more of a turn on than Cynthia’s body could ever be. Liam is crushing hard on this beautiful woman with a brain.

Before she leaves him, she gives him her email address and a task to complete. This will be the game if he expects to ever see or talk to her again. Liam is in 100%.

The pace of this book reminded me of any episode of the Gilmore Girls. Super fast paced dialogue and text. Lots of references to books that would go over most people’s heads, but didn’t deter from the novel. Liam is a deep deep thinker and he’s met his match in Cynthia. Their relationship would turn out to be life changing. Liam’s work is the perfect counterplay to Cynthia, because the people he works for are corrupt and backstabbing and vile (but is it always that way in that industry?) He needs Cynthia and her perspective to make sense of his work.

While the pace and verbiage could be cumbersome (I sometimes had to reread paragraphs to absorb them,) this novel is a lot of fun. It’s crazy and unexpected and in its own way, a mystery to solve. Or not solve as the story goes. I enjoyed this one.

This book was such a roller coaster that I don't know where to begin this review. I must say that I enjoyed it, although it required concentration and did not lend itself well to scanning. You really have to read every word to see inside of Eastlake's mind and where he is taking you. The novel begins at the site of a raging fire. It's a scene Eastlake does not return to until the very end.

William, or Liam, is a script writer for a television series filming in Florida. He is accompanied by two (sometimes three) "suits", Executive Producers and the like. They are Hollywood types who enjoy living the high life granted by their per diem from the cable network.

On their first night out, the guys take William to a gentlemen's club, where he is smitten by a beautiful pole dancer who appears to be classically trained, also gorgeous. He tries to see her again, but she insists he peruse a recommended reading list before she allows that. The books include studies of monkey behavior and the writings of Chairman Mao, among others, totaling 2,500 pages or so. He does the reading and thus passes the first test. There are more as this relationship moves ahead.

Nicole, the beautiful dancer, tells him she is, or could be a number of odd things including an anthropology student or a resident of a distance galaxy. Whatever she is, her time here is limited.

In the process of reading this adventure, you will experience suicide, depression, various philosophical brain teasers, lessons in how filming and producing TV series work, paintball games, and probably a few other things I failed to mention.

If you have the intelligence and fortitude to stick with it, this is a hell of a book. William's first-person narration takes you into his brain and shows you his life through his eyes. If you get through it, the mystery is sort of solved. (Still worth reading to the end.)

Thanks to Red Hen Press and Net Galley for a review copy.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Red Hen Press for the chance to read this book as an ARC. I really do not know how to start the review for this book. It was a jumble of ideas, names, and concepts. The protagonist is William Fox, also called Will, Billy ( which he doesn't like) and Liam. He is a TV writer in the early 2000's who is in Florida to work on a TV series. The plot of the series, like this book, is too muddled to describe. William works with several stock Hollywood types who alternately work with and against him. They all go one night to a "gentlemans club". There, William meets a dancer, who calls herself Cynthia. Actually she changes her name pretty much every time William sees her, and she explains at one point that she names her wigs and these are the wigs names. The name she finally uses is Nicole Diver( which is also not real, but taken from the Fitzgerald novel, Tender is the Night). Nicole tells William she is an anthropologist, studying male behavior in strip clubs.William is attracted to her and sets on a quest to find her. The book has 2 main storylines, William's search for Nicole and his work on the TV show. I found both to be muddled. I had a hard time following the story.There is a lengthy detour in books that Nicole gives William to read, concerning monkey behavior and one about Chairman Mao.I finished the book,but I have to say I just didn't get it.

William Fox is a neurotic TV writer obsessed with the mysterious Nicole who he meets at a gentlemen's club.
Nicole, claims to be an anthropologist. Thus begins a madcap story of William chasing Nicole, juggling his job and seeking love. This novel explores love, power and monkey business. The female characters, however, are a bit 2 dimensional. It's a decent try and recommended for reality show lover and ironic madcap stories #RedHenPress #netgalley #Netgalleyreads

This book seems to lack some depths when it come to its female characters, especially the lead. She feels very much like a 'manic pixie dream girl', eccentric, smart and totally a 'pick me girl' yet charming and appealing to the male protagonist.

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review, I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

This book did not grab me the way I thought it might. The cover is cheeky, it's cute. The book itself, I tried to get through but it doesn't really interest me. I did not finish it unfortunately. Monkey Business just does not seem fun for me, I was expecting to be more entertained and grabbed by the storyline but I didn't think the story line was strong enough..

Don’t be fooled by the tempting wrapper. This book makes promises it fails to keep!

When neurotic protagonist William ‘Liam’ Fox meets the mysterious Nicole, all his buttons are pushed. She’s beautiful, smart and most of all, unavailable. Liam quickly becomes obsessed and that’s where this story with so much potential for shenanigans and fun takes a deep dive into what can only be the author’s college thesis on the excuses of manhood. With some workplace political machinations thrown in for a distraction from the lack of fun, this book was a total dud. On a scale of Didn’t Finish It to I Loved It, I Finished It, but only because I’m stubborn.