Hollywood and Venal

<p>“Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you find the real</p><p>tinsel underneath.” – Oscar Levant </p><p> </p><p>Sometimes fiction is the best way to tell the truth. In this his first collection of short stories Nat Segaloff (<em>Final Cuts Guarding Gable Mr. Huston/Mr. North</em>) reveals the truth behind some of Hollywood’s biggest scandals agendas and confidences.</p><p>     First published by reporter/columnist Nikki Finke on her acclaimed website HollywoodDementia.com™ these romans-à-clef (stories with a key) expose long-hidden secrets about the Blacklist the Oscars® publicity stunts studio follies ageism celebrity weirdness and other  gambits that even today are barely whispered -- if they are discussed at all. For half a century author Segaloff has been a publicist critic historian and producer (not all at the same time) absorbing film industry lore. And he kept notes. Where he could use real names he put them into his memoirs Screen Saver and Screen Saver Too (both from BearManor). Where he had to hide identities he saved them for <em>Hollywood & Venal.</em></p><p>     Here is a collection of funny revealing moving and sometimes absurd narratives every one of which has its origins in an actual Hollywood event legend mindset pitch or occurrence known personally to the author. Readers are invited to guess who.</p><p>Text ©2020 Nat Segaloff. Illustrations ©2020 Thomas Warming. The story pitches in this book are copyrighted and registered with the Writers Guild of America west Inc.</p>