{"product_id":"big-red-a-novel-starring-rita-hayworth-and-orson-welles-9781324091332","title":"Big Red: A Novel Starring Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince he first appeared on the American literary scene, Jerome Charyn has dazzled readers with his \"blunt, brilliantly crafted prose\" (\u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e). Yet Charyn, a beloved comedic novelist, also possesses an extraordinary knowledge of Golden Age Hollywood, having taught film history both in the United States and France.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith \u003cem\u003eBig Red\u003c\/em\u003e, Charyn reimagines the life of one of America's most enduring icons, \"Gilda\" herself, Rita Hayworth, whose fiery red tresses and hypnotic dancing graced the silver screen over sixty times in her nearly forty-year career. The quintessential movie star of the 1940s, Hayworth has long been objectified as a sex symbol, pin-up girl, and so-called Love Goddess. Here Charyn, channeling the ghosts of a buried past, finally lifts the veils that have long enshrouded Hayworth, evoking her emotional complexity--her passions, her pain, and her inner turmoil.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharyn's reimagining of Hayworth's story begins in 1943, in a roomette at the Hollywood Hotel, where narrator Rusty Redburn--an impetuous, second-string gossip columnist from Kalamazoo, Michigan--bides her time between working as a gofer in the publicity offices of Columbia Pictures, volunteering at an indie movie house, and pursuing dalliances with young women on the Sunset Strip. Called upon by the manipulative Columbia movie mogul Harry \"The Janitor\" Cohn to spy on Hayworth--then, the Dream Factory's most alluring \"dame,\" and Cohn's biggest movie star--Rusty becomes Rita's confidante, accompanying her on a series of madcap adventures with her indomitable husband, the \"boy genius\" Orson Welles.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut Rusty, an outlaw who can see beyond the prejudices of Hollywood's male-dominated hierarchy, quickly becomes disgusted with the way actresses, and particularly Rita, are exploited by men. As she struggles to balance the dangerous politics of Tinseltown with her desire to protect Rita from ruffians and journalists alike, Rusty has her own encounters--some sweet, some bruising--with characters real and imagined, from Julie Tanaka, an interned Japanese-American friend, to superstars like Clark Gable and Tallulah Bankhead, as well as notorious Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReanimating such classic films as \u003cem\u003eGilda\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Lady from Shanghai\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBig Red\u003c\/em\u003e is a bittersweet paean to Hollywood's Golden Age, a tender yet honest portrait of a time before blockbusters and film franchises--one that promises to consume both Hollywood cinephiles and neophytes alike. Lauded for his \"polymorphous imagination\" (Jonathan Lethem), Charyn once again has created one of the most inventive novels in recent American literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Liveright Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/23\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781324091332\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2022 pg. 17\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/18\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2022 pg. 27\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Jerome Charyn","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42253648396469,"sku":"9781324091332","price":23.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_86fdfbab-92e2-484d-92cf-2d0e56cf82b4.jpg?v=1656388299","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/big-red-a-novel-starring-rita-hayworth-and-orson-welles-9781324091332","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}