It happens too often: a writer dies, and I'm reminded by the obits of books I meant to read but never did. Otto Friedrich's City of Nets was a perfect example; I read all the reviews when it came out in 1986, but it wasn't until after his death in 1995 that I fell in love with this history of Hollywood in the 1940s.
The part that interested me most were the chapters about the German emigres who settled in Los Angeles during and after World War II. Thomas Mann was the dean; his brother Heinrich was less popular and returned to East Germany after the war. Other residents included Franz Werfel (Song of Bernadette) and his wife Alma, who had been married to Gustav Mahler and never let anyone forget it; and that cynical smoker of cheap cigars, Bertold Brecht.
I can't be certain, but I think that Joseph Kanon, publisher-turned-novelist (he won an Edgar for his superb Los Alamos, and his The Good German, equally excellent, became a film starring George Clooney) read those same chapters of City of Nets before starting to write his absolutely riveting and award-worthy STARDUST.
Ben Collier, recently returned to the U.S. from service in the Signal Corps in Europe, travels to California in 1946 after his sister-in-law, Liesl, informs him that his B-movie director brother, Danny, has suffered a serious fall from a hotel window. Was it an accident or a suicide attempt? Ben arrives in time to witness his brother briefly emerge from a coma, but soon afterward Danny dies. While Liesl believes the suicide theory, Ben suspects someone pushed Danny out the window, and turns amateur detective to identify the culprit. Liesel and Ben begin a scorching affair, too good to last. Then Ben learns that his brother, formerly an active Communist, was playing a part in an anticommunist crusade which a congressman is launching against the film industry.
Stuffed with a dazzling blend of real people (Paulette Goddard, Jack Warner, agent Abe Lastfogel) and fictional creations (keep your eye on Bunny, the former child star who is now a top studio exec), Stardust is a splendid read.
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