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The Day of the Locust
2023: Other Books
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The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West - 3 stars
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Published in 1939, this is a work of satire about the dark side of Hollywood. Characters (intentionally) border on stereotypes, and include an artist, a retired hotel bookkeeper, a former vaudeville performer now door-to-door salesman, the vaudevillian's beautiful but untalented daughter (who of course sees herself as a future star), her paramours, and a screenwriter. There is little plot. It contains a series of vignettes in which a small group of characters interact. Set during the Great Depression, the people on the edges of society are angry, feeling they have been cheated out of their dreams, and this gradually spills over into a violent climax. It is not a cheery book and is considered a classic. It is hard to say I “enjoyed” it, but I am glad I read it.