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The Fourth Wall by Walter Jon Williams (view source)
Revision as of 13:03, 7 February 2012
, 13:03, 7 February 2012no edit summary
Sean Makin was a cute, much demanded child actor. Then he grew up and the cute became creepy as the baby face that had made him famous remained (due to a physical condition) but was unsuited to an adult’s body. So the demand dried up and Sean tries to come to terms with his change of fortunes by writing a ‘how to act’ blog, intoxicating substances and appearances on a reality celebrity martial arts fight show. One day, whilst being beaten up for the cameras in a wrestling ring full of cottage cheese, he realises the depths to which he’s sunk. Something has to change! Luckily change soon arrives in the form of ‘Alternate Reality’ magnate, Dagmar Shaw.
Dagmar, as readers of [[:Category:Walter Jon Williams’Williams|Walter Jon Williams']] previous books [[This is not a Game]] and ‘’Deep State’’ will know, specialises in games that invade the players’ real lives. Dagmar, however, is branching out. She is now looking for talent to appear in a unique kind of feature film. Dagmar’s history may be littered with the unexplained deaths of friends and colleagues, but Sean desperately wants the work. There’s only so much public humiliation in dairy produce that an ego can take.
This is the third Dagmar Shaw book written by WJW (as his fans refer to him... understandably), but the novel belongs to Sean Makin. The story is told with his voice and through him WJW can explore the plight of the discarded child actor. It’s all here: Sean’s parents stole from him throughout his childhood and, when the gravy train ran off the rails, his father disappeared and his mother went to join an ashram in India. (Some of the humour comes through his email conversations with his mother that intersperse the story narrative, along with his blog and the posted comments of his fans.)