L. A. Candy, by Lauren Conrad
Conrad, Lauren (2009). L. A. Candy. NY: HarperCollins. 336 pages.
Now, you know I wasn't going to, like, not read this book. Of course, Lauren Conrad's first novel (there are reportedly two to follow this debut and that serve to continue the story begun in Candy) totally precedes itself. First, there's the press that Lauren is doing to promote the novel: she's visited The View, Late Night and The Early Show, and is currently (as of June 23, 2009) engaged in a multi-city book-signing tour (Salon.com's review of the novel and of one of Conrad's appearances can be found here). Then, there's the whole Being Lauren Conrad Thing, which takes it all to the next level.
The skinny: L. A. Candy follows best friends Jane and Scarlett, two Santa Barbara girls who move to L. A. to go to school (Scarlett) and intern for a famous celebrity party planner (Jane). When the girls are picked out of a partying crowd at a hot nightclub by a television producer, they submit to participation in a reality show based on their lives. Starring with Jane and Scarlett are two other girls: Madison, a bitchy heiress who loves the spotlight, and Gaby, a dumb blonde and would-be starlet. While naive, girl-next-door Jane is flattered and charmed by the spoils of reality stardom, Scarlett--who is characterized as the hotter but also smarter of the two--is a harder sell. When, following a test screening, the producers of the reality show select Jane as the primary narrative focalizer (she's just so relatable), the claws come out and Madison vows to refocus the spotlight on herself.
I watched Lauren's interview on The View (the clip is embedded on her MySpace page), and was struck by the way she described the genesis of her novel. After Whoopi asks Lauren how she got the idea for L. A. Candy, Lauren explains, "They came to me with this idea, and they said would you ever consider writing a novel?" Of course, she said yes, and decided to base it on her experiences as a reality show starlet. My questions: who are "they" and what else have they suggested? Are "they" the ones who suggested the hackneyed plot that pretends to critique the reality show world, but ends up drawing its characters just as broadly and typically as a reality show would? While this characterization is sort of meta--in one scene, Scarlett complains that the girls have been misrepresented and simplified--this meta-ness seems more accidental than farcical.
Of course, I totally ate the book up and will definitely be on the lookout for the next one. The predictable plot, the contrived villainy of Madison, and the wide-eyed innocence of Jane are just too awesome to pass up. Now, I've never watched The Hills, so I can't really draw parallels between the show, Lauren's "real" life, and the novel, but I bet there are Easter Eggs in there for folks who are looking. Prove me wrong.