Real life events or total fiction? The world may never know.

An anonymous A- List celebrity writes a tell all memoir about his life before becoming a household name. At least, that is the idea, but the content of the memoir is so polarizing and explosive that nobody wants to touch it. Desperate to have his story told, he engages the help of an entrepreneur to release his brainchild out into the world and even he is dragged, threatened and bullied in an attempt to keep this book from seeing the light of day. The story of the actor known only as “The Author” chronicles the first year of his life in Hollywood as he struggles to find his way in a land of excess, drugs and wild parties. From the opening chapter, I knew this was going to be a wild ride. Starting out as an assistant to a talent agency he puts everything on the line, moving from New York to LA on a wing and a prayer and a massive lie to break into the business. But acting was only to be a means to an end as his ultimate goal is to become the next great novelist. Sound convoluted? It is.

I was turned on to The Author by the massively viral prerelease media blitz. The premise was completely new and immediately attention grabbing and I’ll even admit that I binge watched all available episodes of “The Author Show” in a single weekend. The show not only set the framework of this book but also tells a bit of the backstory of the mastermind behind this entire project, entrepreneur Daniel Thomas Hind. Naturally, with all the lore surrounding this mysterious and self-proclaimed forbidden memoir I was eager to get my hands on a copy. For me, the marketing strategy worked. I was hooked and ready to read.

Overall, the narrative is very disjointed, but still in a way coherent. There was a definite beginning and an end, but the situations and events in the chapters in between were unordered and rambling and while that may put many off, I chalked it up to what must have been the author’s drug-addled state of mind while many of the situations played out. With each chapter exploring another point in the history of The Author - anything from escapades as a youth to his drug induced days trying to make it big in Hollywood - the author does a great job of taking the reader into each scenario (memory) and immersing them to the point that when the narrator comes back into the present time it can be a bit jarring and disorienting. I feel this was probably done by design.

If you are not familiar with The Author Show or any of the other ads and hype preceding this book, basically providing the backbone or backstory of the overall narrative, this book will come off as extremely nonsensical, possibly pretentious, and hard to read. Truly after reading it myself I can say that this is a polarizing title and one that readers will either really like or vehemently hate. I really do not see an in between or a happy medium where the book is “just ok”. In the recent climate of knee jerk reactions to a theme, word, or idea in that respect this book will also offend those who have their feathers easily ruffled. Taking all of that into consideration, I find myself in the ‘really like’ category as I tend to gravitate more toward edgy and controversial content.

This book isn’t all just ramblings, however, there is also a human element if you take the time to look for it. In his quest to become famous and to ultimately write the next Great American Novel, the author makes several references to other legendary authors before him (this was also a huge theme in the Author Show). The way he goes about achieving this goal is where the humor lies. Throughout the 300+ pages of this book there are funny parts, as well as sad and serious parts. There is a lost love aspect with several mentions a person only as “you who I will not name”, which I feel is probably him pining for his girlfriend he left behind to come to LA. The recurring snake references peppered throughout also appears to be a metaphor for himself as he is searching for his place but destroying himself at the same time. Will he achieve his fame before he self-destructs is the big question.

After reading this title, I still have no idea if this “Author” is someone famous or just a product of the real author’s imagination. At this point, if the stories in this memoir are real I would rather not know who it is lest it shatter what could be a pristine image or serve to confirm all suspicions.

Thanks to MetaLit, Scribe Media and Netgalley for an ARC copy of this title. The reviews and opinions above were voluntarily provided. All opinions are my own. The Author is scheduled for an April 1, 2025 release

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribe Media for the advanced reader copy.

The premise of THE AUTHOR felt unique and fresh, in the satirical coverage of pop culture and obsession with celebrity. The opening "letter from the agent" was a great start to the book--the POV and writing style keeps the reader just enough off-kilter to never really settle into whether this is a "real" book or not. But once the author actually starts the book, the story is too full of itself and pretentious to keep reading. An interesting idea that doesn't execute well.

Fun concept. I was charmed by the initial marketing strategy of this novel as well. However, The Author lacks substance and a unique point of view. As someone who enjoys satire on popular culture, I found this novel to be too gimmicky and pretentious..

This is a fun concept, and it's clear that the author (or should I say "The Author"?) had a lot of fun writing it. I'm happy for him!

Ultimately, though, "The Author" makes regular reference to the writer's undergraduate novel, and frankly, that's how this reads. This felt like a personal writing exercise more than a book written for public consumption. It's unapologetic about not being written for everyone, but without significant developmental editing work, it ends up feeling as if it's written for no one but the author himself. While it's billed as "pretentious," "lowbrow," "absurdist," and "deplorable"—and it certainly hits the mark on all of those things, which, to be clear, is a good thing in this case—it intermixes styles without logic or art, giving the impression of a jumble of drafts bundled together. While I think this was meant to evoke the rush and confusion of the partying lifestyle, instead, as the reader, I felt more like I was being dragged along with a horrible hangover.

While it feels like this book is coming about 10 years after its genre's heyday, I do think it had the potential to appeal to folks who like books in this space. Unfortunately, it needs a <i>lot</i> of work first.

((We all knew there would be content warnings for this book. But on top of, well, every content warning you'd expect to see in a 2025 fratire novel (and that, folks, is all I'm going to say about my guess re: who wrote this, but I have a pretty strong suspicion—and if it's him, let me just say that he's much better with a professional editor), <b>content warning for</b> <spoiler>on-page pet murder.</spoiler>))

Sadly, I could not get into this book. I read the first chapter and most of the second before I called it. Perhaps I couldn’t connect with the character/author because of such extreme lifestyle differences. While I was reading totally sober, the book is written in a way that made me feel like I was super high as I was reading. Maybe that was the point; if so, kudos.

Interesting premise, poor execution.

Pretentious, misogynistic, homophobic, racist drivel. Usually I try to find one interesting or enjoyable aspect of a book when reviewing but this time around I have nothing. Utter trash.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribe Media | Meta Lit for the ARC…..I think.

I found the style this book and the way it was written really difficult to follow, which whilst at points reflected the events occurring, made it hard to reading and made me not really enjoy it.
I would recommend this book to people which are interested in the darker side of getting into Hollywood who are able to follow storytelling that jumps around a bit and can be complicated to follow at times

I was provided a review copy of this book

I liked the concept, but unfortunately nothing about this book worked for me. The writing style came across very over the top and pompous. Just not for me.

This was an intriguing concept, but the main character was immediately so off-putting more so then I would expect for the goof. He is not likeable at all. It was a struggle to read his point of view. This wasn't for me.

The blurb was intriguing but the execution left a lot to be desired. I tried to get through it but will leave my review here and not post a more negative one on GR, etc.

I loved the premise of this book. It had so much potential.

Here are my two thoughts:

The first thought is I feel like I was punked.
My second thought is life’s too short to read a bad book.

(I’m unable to find this on Goodreads to leave a review).

What the heck did I just read? I couldn't tell if I liked this book or not. I need to sit on it for a bit.

I’m sorry but this was a bit ridiculous. I’m all here for remaining anonymous and changing details etc. but this comes off like a publicity stunt gone wrong. It comes out April 1, 2025 but still can’t find it on Goodreads to even post a review.

The book needs major editing to make it a cohesive book as it reads like a stream of consciousness and is all over the place. I’m sorry but this wasn’t for me.

I’m thankful for the eARC from the publisher.

The idea behind this book was better executed than the book itself.
I’d like to see this book go through another couple of rounds of editing. At some points it was hard to follow.
I don’t mind a pretentious writer — as this writer was — but there needs to be better writing to really make it work. The style this book was written in is popular and I do enjoy it, but it definitely needs a few more passes and rewrites to make it work.
I did think the stories were interesting and the concept of an anonymous tell-all piqued my interested, but it felt hurried, unpolished, and, at times, over the top pretentious (in a not fun way).

What... was this? The whole anonymity thing felt like a gimmick that led nowhere. Was it supposed to be funny? Satirical? I honestly couldn’t tell. The writing was chaotic, pretentious, and hard to follow, with random name-drops and bizarre metaphors that made me feel more confused than intrigued. It tried to be deep but ended up feeling like a mess. The mystery fizzled out fast, and by the end, I didn’t care who “The Author” was. Maybe some will find it clever, but for me, it was just… a lot. And not in a good way.

This was…weird. It feels like reading fiction, I’m fairly certain it IS fiction, but it’s supposed to make us feel like we’re getting the inside scoop on a mega famous movie stars bad deeds. The writing was choppy and kinda hard to follow. A+ for creativity though, I’ve never read anything else like this. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

About 4 stars for the concept and negative stars for the execution.

I'm really, really confused.

But let's start first. I was given a copy of The Author by The Author from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Lowbrow content. Highbrow craft."

- The first half of this review is correct. Highbrow could be replaced by pretentious. Craft could be replaced by 'and in want of an editor.'

So I didn't manage to finish this book. I tried very hard over the first two chapters and decided that this was a bridge too far. From what I gather, this is someone who curves around Hollywood wanting to be a screenwriter or just a general writer. It is a sort of Truman Capote-type figure, although with the stylings of Bret Easton Ellis. The drug references are numerous, and the action is frenzied and hard to pin down. However, there are parties, 'lesbians' who may or may not be lesbians, a car crash that was self-induced (the victim: "Apple bottom. Too many apple pies"), etc. Chapter 2 offers offensive observations on the NY subway and, from scanning a later chapter, value judgments like, "She was on the wrong side of ugly."

Instead of weaved cultural references, we have lines such as A Michelangelo becomes a van Gogh becomes a Picasso becomes a Pollock-like progress in reverse." Too many name-dropping references without a coherent narrative safely sunk the story and made me flick through aimlessly; the words become meaningless.

This was available to read now instead of during the normal requesting process. If this were a tongue-in-cheek novel, I would have enjoyed it. I would likely have requested it anyway, but I think this is very much a down-and-out with an intelligent bent kind of novel that is unreadable.

P.S.: The YouTube channel made so little sense...

I guess my expectations were too high. The descriptions intrigued me, and I was looking forward to reading a one-of-a-kind story about how Hollywood broke (or maybe didn’t break?) a person willing to sacrifice everything for fame. I also hoped for something in the vein of Matthew Perry’s memoir — an honest yet touching story.
Unfortunately, this book was a pretentious disappointment. From the very beginning, an agent warns that you won’t like it, and you know what? You really don’t. It manages to be both dull and outrageous at the same time. There’s no moral, no reason to root for the Author, only a vague hope that they’ll fail in their desperate, messy attempts at a breakthrough.
On top of that, the storytelling is utterly boring. The writing is bland, and the book is filled with scattered anecdotes, jumping back and forth between life events without truly engaging the reader. It felt as if the author was their own biggest failure, and this book was meant to be something, it it not..

lol, the pretentious verbiage turned me off three pages in. Now I get why the author didn’t assign his name - not because of the ‘debauchery’ that, let’s be honest, no one would care about. But because of the banal writing pretending to be intellectual and ‘special’. Truly have no interested in the rest of the book!

Did not finish. Felt too much like a gimmick and wasn't captivating for me. I wasn't drawn in by the writing, and the summary didn't do anything for me. I also couldn't find it on GoodReads, the primary platform I use to share activity and reviews.