Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from Doubleday, via #netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own
A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.
Synopsis:
Alex Lyons always has his mind made up by the time the curtain comes down at a performance—the show either deserves a five-star rave or a one-star pan. Anything in between is meaningless. On the opening night of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, he doesn’t deliberate over the rating for Hayley Sinclair’s show, nor does he hesitate when the opportunity presents itself to have a one-night stand with the struggling actress.
Unaware that she’s gone home with the theater critic who’s just written a career-ending review of her, Hayley wakes up at his apartment to see his scathing one-star critique in print on the kitchen table, and she’s not sure which humiliation offends her the most. So she revamps her show into a viral sensation critiquing Alex Lyons himself—entitled son of a famous actress, serial philanderer, and by all accounts a terrible man. Yet Alex remains unapologetic. As his reputation goes up in flames, he insists on telling his unvarnished version of events to his colleague, Sophie. Through her eyes, we see that the deeper she gets pulled into his downfall, the more conflicted she becomes. After all, there are always two sides to every story.
A brilliant Trojan horse of a book about art, power, misogyny, and female rage, Bring the House Down is a searing, insightful, and often hilarious debut that captures the blurred line between reality and performance.
Review:
Maybe it's because I'm gen X- but the whole woke/cancel culture bull is just that to me, so while this one sounded like it might actually be ok, I went into it with a bit of a grudge against the concept. But having said that, it wasn't too bad, because SHOCKER- both sides view are equally shown- what happens to the one who gets comeupance by causing the cancellation, and then what that actually feels like to the cancelee, and how it affects THOSE AROUND THEM, because as well all know, nothing happens by itself-everything is a domino effect.The author did a great job in truly articulating the morass of modern culture and the traps laid within in. An interesting look at the Edinburgh Fringe festival is a positive side note! if you're looking for something a bit different, this is the book for you!
About the Author:
CHARLOTTE RUNCIE was most recently the Daily Telegraph’s radio critic and senior arts columnist. She has also written for magazines and newspapers including the Times and the Guardian, spending years in the culture trenches reviewing shows at the Edinburgh Festival. A graduate of Cambridge University, Charlotte was longlisted for the 2023 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and Bridport Prize, and was a Foyle Young Poet of the Year.
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