Popcorn

Book Name : Popcorn

Author : Ben Elton

What is it about : The book centered on the theme : does life inspire films or do films imitate life ? And the second half : Just Who Is Responsible ? In this book, copycat killings along the Californian coast bear a close resemblance to the latest movies made by our director, Bruce Delamitri. Wayne and Scout, widely known as the Mall Murderers, gunned their way to notoriety and decided to pay Bruce a visit at his LA villa the night after he won the Oscar's Best Director Award. Mayhem broke out when Bruce, in the middle of seducing our gorgeous Playboy Centerfold, Brooke, discovered that the two killers were actually in his house, wanting to play a part in his life and eventual redemption.

Some thoughts after having read the book : The center piece with all the characters involved taking place at Bruce's LA mansion was one long affair, taking up two-thirds of the book - big on atmosphere and dialogues but slack on pace and progress, until right at the very end when the SWAT team stormed in and only a few survived the cross fire. A brilliant satire on the theme "In the USA, Who Is Responsible ?". Such an idea had long simmered under my subconsciousness when news of racial violence, gun killings and the poverty gap in the USA, made me wonder often. It was not until the chaotic and finger-pointing response to the onset of COVID and the million-plus subsequent deaths which finally brought home to me that in the USA, as Wayne Hudson, our Mall Murderer told Bruce Delamitri on Page 230, that "... there is an excuse for anything and everything in the USA ..." and " ... nothing is anybody's fault ...". 

The Epilogue was one of the finest and funniest wrap-up that I had ever read, basically, true to form, everybody blamed everybody else - the murderers blamed the Welfare Department for neglect, Bruce blamed the live TV audience for fanning the murderers' ego, the live TV audience blamed the media for not certifying the live broadcast Rated 18, the media blamed the Government for not having enough regulations, the Democrats blamed the Republicans (vice versa) and finally Scout, our female Mall Murderer, blamed religion since The Almighty did not intervene to stop the tragedy.

Would I recommend this book to you : Although the part on the hostage hold-up was a bit drawn out, it nevertheless felt quite a real life interplay between the roles involved. A brilliant satire about life in the USA and the book to a large extent, answered some of my long-puzzled questions. Go read !