The Day of the Locust

It cannot have been difficult to find enough sordidness to fill a novel about 1930s Hollywood, but Nathanael West manages to cover all the bases -- stardom, whoredom, alcoholism, fanaticism -- in a neat and artful package. There is black humor as well, as when starlet Faye Greener says of her father: " 'He's crazy. We Greeners are all crazy.' She made this last statement as though there were merit in being crazy. 'He's pretty sick,' Homer said, apologizing for her. 'Maybe he had a sunstroke.' 'No, he's crazy.' " The set pieces, including a cockfight, drunken party, and the climactic film premiere, are carried off with skill. The book was also made into a fine film in 1975 directed by John Schlesinger.