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DIGGING JAMES DEAN
by Robert Eversz
Simon and Schuster, February 2005
288 pages
$22.00
ISBN: 074325015X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Nina Zero is growing up. She's now 30 and only wants to be allowed to earn a living photographing celebrities. Some street kids give her a tip that a fading celebrity will be eating in a restaurant in Santa Monica. She attempts to take his picture, but his bodyguard breaks her camera.

Nina, accompanied by her toothless rottweiler, goes to the tabloid she sells most of her photos to talk to Frank Adams, the editor who sometimes gives her assignments. The rottweiler barks, causing her to turn and she sees a couple of men wearing ski masks who attack her. The dog licks her face and awakens her.  Frank is standing over her with a camera. He is going to write a story about Nina being assaulted in the parking lot of the Scandal Times

She crashes on the floor of the newspaper office and when she awakens, Frank reminds her that they are going to Fairmount, Indiana that day. Nina is on probation and is not supposed to leave the state of California but Frank has spoken to her parole officer and gotten her permission to go. There is a rumor that someone has tried to steal James Dean's bones!

The search for the reason for the theft leads to a Los Angeles cult of celebrity. Young actors think that by wearing a piece of bone from a famous person, they will also become famous actors.

Back in California, Nina's mother dies, leaving her abusive father. To Nina's surprise, her sister, who left home 24 years earlier turns up but refuses to go to the funeral. She disappears, along with all Nina's savings, but she is shortly found dead in the cemetery.

Eversz writes with tongue in cheek, He mixes real and imaginary cults along with the mystery that Nina must solve. He also gives a very touching portrayal of the kids who flock to LA to become movie stars and get sucked into the glitz and the gloss spun by con men.

Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, December 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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