Who Cooked Hot Dog Stahl? — Fran Yariv

In an age in which O.J.'s gloves, J.Lo's bottom, and Martha's finances dominate the airwaves, and celebrity madness grips households from coast to coast, this wildly comic parody arrives to open arms. Author Yariv leaves few issues unrankled: the zaniness of Hollywood, the pretensions of Po-Mo psychotherapy, the often childish inanity of academia. Fame, it seems, touches us all-in the head, perhaps.

A Mulholland Drive car accident incinerates celluloid heartthrob Brian "Hot Dog" Stahl, but fellow star Adam LaSalle (a sort of youngish Robert Redford, say) survives. Suspicious circumstances land LaSalle in jail, as he had been vying with Hot Dog for the lead in Steven Spielberg's musical adaptation of "Ulysses." The high-powered Los Angeles legal system takes off, and delirious mayhem ensues. Will we ever find out the truth about Hot Dog Stahl? Well, there's only one way to find out.