title: Who Stole the Funny?: A Novel of Hollywood
author:  Robby Benson 
description: Drawing on his experience directing <I>Friends</I>, Benson offers in his debut a derivative parody of behind-the-scenes Los Angeles that fails to skewer any of its easy targets. Has-been sitcom director J.T. Baker, a passionate schmuck in a self-imposed exile from Hollywood, is picked to helm the hit show <I>I Love</I><I>My Urban Buddies</I> (the biggest sitcom in eons) after his predecessor meets an unfortunate end via an unfaithful wife, a hot tub and a nail gun. Desperate for money and health insurance to cover his son's kidney dialysis treatment, J.T. accepts the assignment and flies to California. Upon his arrival, he clashes with Debbie, the voluptuous sexpot network liaison; Lance, the underqualified studio exec; and the married terrors Stephanie and Marcus Pooley, the show's creators. J.T.'s only ally on the lot is his friend Asher Black, who helps J.T. survive Marcus's lecherous casting sessions, puerile assistant directors, an on-set pederast and a cast of babied egoists. Benson's flat, one-dimensional characters are hard to take seriously, and readers may have a hard time sympathizing with the long-winded J.T., especially after he anoints himself the Sergeant at Arms of the Moral Police. Benson's background in the TV biz is apparent, but his roman &agrave; clef doesn't pop. <I>(Sept.)</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: RECKLESS
  BENSON’S BOYS BOOK 1
   
  JANET ELIZABETH HENDERSON
  
  PROLOGUE—TWO WEEKS EARLIER
  THE HIGHLANDS, SCOTLAND
   
   
  Dimitri held his gun tightly at his side as he trudged through the snow
  behind the psychopath who’d hired him. The sound of gunfire rent the night
  as the residents of the castle fought back. Reynard Durand, his boss on this
  job, was an idiot. But a dangerous idiot, the kind who was fluent in violence
  and lacking in empathy.
  Durand’s plan had been simple: go to Scotland, kidnap Claire
  Donaldson, hand her over to his boss and climb further up the ladder of
  Abramovich’s skin trade business. To achieve this aim, Durand attacked a
  bachelorette party. He thought he would waltz in, intimidate the women and
  waltz out again with Claire under his arm. Idiot. If he’d been watching them
  for the past week, as Dimitri had been, he would have known that nothing
  was simple when it came to the women of Invertary.
  He might also have known that Claire had an identical twin.
  Yeah, Durand was t