Spoofing the film biz

[Clive]

One of my minor addictions is the five-of-the-best culture lists that run in the Wall Street Journal every weekend. The latest offers Joe Keenan’s take on the sharpest literary satires about Hollywood. Budd Schulberg’s What Makes Sammy Run? takes pride of place, with Michael Tolkin’s The Player close behind. I wonder how long it will be before Tinseltown’s excesses become so bizarre that they make any fiction look puny? I mean, can you really satirise someone as unreal as Tom Cruise?