Stardust

I'm conflicted about this book. The topic, post WW II witch hunting for communists in the movie industry, is something I am interested in. The characters are interesting and believable. The plot, though, is often confusing. Ben Collier returns from Europe to hear that his very successful and heroic......more

Beginning with Los Alamos, Jospeh Kanon has written a number of very entertaining books set in a recent historical context. Stardust: A Novel is set in Hollywood in the months immediately following World War II, and Kanon creates a vivid portrayal of the time and place that sounds very much like the......more

In November 1945, Ben Collier is on a train from New York to California to see his brother who is likely dying. On the trip west, Ben meets Sol Lashner, head of Continental Studios, a small film company in Hollywood. Ben's brother Danny was a writer for Continental. Danny Kohler, who didn't change h......more

My mother (who very much needs a Goodreads account) referred this to us. It's compulsively readable, sexy, and intelligent. I carried it with me everywhere until I finished it. As a mystery novel, Stardust is almost perfect. It does everything that a good Elizabeth George or James Ellroy novel does,......more

This is one of those books that is good but would be better if it were shorter, like about a hundred pages shorter. A tougher editor would have forced cuts that would have produced a stronger, tighter, leaner, more propulsive book. I like long books, but they need to earn their length, and this one......more