by Clancy Sigal
First published 2018
Clancy Sigal returns from World War II and lands at the Sam Jaffe talent agency in 1940s Hollywood. The city sprawls before him like Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles, minus modern conveniences. Sigal mingles with movie stars including Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Tony Curtis while befriending the nervous Peter Lorre over drinks. The entertainment industry churns with ambitious women, struggling writers, cunning directors, and FBI surveillance teams hunting suspected communists. When the House Un-American Activities Committee subpoenas Sigal during the Hollywood Blacklist investigations, he faces an impossible choice. Nine names burn in his pocket. He can surrender them to protect himself or stay silent and risk everything. The memoir captures both the glamour and paranoia of an industry under siege, told with the rhythm and style of classic detective fiction.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, biography-memoir
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Hollywood, Los Angeles
Period: 1940s
354 pages · Kindle Edition · Icon Books