Charlie Besson is tired. He works as an overnight news writer, and he’s tired of it. And he’s tired. And he’s tired of watching other people have lives while he sleeps all day and works all night. He wants something a little more . . . normal. So when an acquaintance mentions a job opening for a personal assistant to a celebrity, he jumps at the chance. Especially since it’s Kathi Kannon, actor, writer, daughter of Hollywood icons, and sci-fi icon Priestess Talara from NovaQuest.
Charlie loved his Priestess Talara action figure as a kid, taking it with him everywhere, until his father got fed up and took it away from him. But now Charlie has the chance to make it all right again, by helping the woman herself with—what exactly does a personal assistant do, anyway?
And then he goes to her house to meet her. There are irreverent signs on her front gate, unorthodox sculptures in her yard, fires burning in the fireplaces in summer, a cook in her ‘80s who has a brain tumor, a groundskeeper who barely works and may live in her shed, rooms full of color and art and collectibles and photos. It’s chaos everywhere. Charlie looks at all this, meets the bipolar, wisecracking, recovering addict herself, and he can’t help but beg the universe for the chance to be a part of it all.
What follows is a crazy ride as Kathi’s assistant. There were texts and calls from celebrities, and errands like fetching her phone from the bathroom at Barney’s. Charlie organized her medications and her socks, picked up the jewelry she left on the floor, and collected the weekly “vegetable money” from her mother Miss Gracie. He took her to doctor’s appointments, got her shoes fixed, and reassured her that yes, she does like cilantro. But most of all, he saw her. He saw her at her best and at her worst, and he loved her still.
The worlds of celebrity and celebrity assistants come together in A Star Is Bored. The curtain is pulled back on it all, and the show is so much better when you get this kind of access. Author Byron Lane knows what he’s writing about. As a former assistant to Carrie Fisher, Lane writes this with confidence and specificity, so you have to wonder how much is truth and how much is fiction.
If you’re worried about it turning into a tawdry tell-all about one of Hollywood’s favorite famous families, rest easy. This is nothing less than a love letter to our beloved Princess Leia and her star power, her charisma, her intelligence, her humor, and her spirit. I expected to be entertained by this book (and I was!). I didn’t expect to be so incredibly moved by it (but I was!). A Star Is Bored is a powerful look inside Hollywood, inside mental illness, and inside the kind of friendship that just doesn’t come along every day. Very highly recommended!
Egalleys for A Star Is Bored were provided by Henry Holt & Company through NetGalley, with many thanks.
