Bitch Goddess

by Robert Rodi

Book Overview

Rodi's relentlessly acid satire of modern celebrity was a cult hit in 2002. Told entirely in the form of emails, interview transcripts, magazine articles, TV scripts, even Christmas cards, it's now... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452283108
• ISBN13: 9780452283107
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A dark comedy that will have you in stitches!

Someone told me that I should try a Robert Rodi novel because his style is somewhat similar to Terry Southern and Augusten Burroughs, two favorites of mine. I had no idea what to expect. Reluctant, I bought Bitch Goddess and hoped for the best. This is one of the funniest, raunchiest satires I've read in quite a while! Viola Chute was a B-list movie starlet in the sixties and seventies and is now making a big comeback in an Aaron Spelling-type of TV melodrama. She hires a ghostwriter to pen her memoirs, and she tells him all about her life and career with gusto. Her information, however, isn't exactly accurate, so he does his research elsewhere and finds plenty of dirt on her. Viola finds out about this and fires him. Big mistake, for Harry decides to write a rather sleazy unauthorized biography that will either make her all the more famous or end her victorious comeback altogether. I haven't laughed so much while reading a novel in a long time. Rodi has quite a unique voice and awesome attention to ironic humor. I like the gossip surrounding Viola, especially the one in which she attacks a paparazzo. I also like how she makes her agent negotiate her contract and the plot of a new project that sounds like an even trashier version of Melrose Place and Dynasty. The article from "Guilty Pleasures" about a movie where she played Joan of Arc is the most hilarious one of all. The novel's format is interesting. The story is told through a series of interviews, articles, letters, e-mails, phone messages and so on. It is a tricky format, but one that makes the novel all the more interesting. Bitch Goddess is a wonderful satire. The raunchy aspects do remind me of a Southern or Burroughs novel, but the author also reminds me of Matthew Beaumont and Wendy Holden. Are you in the bargain for a darkly funny novel? I suggest you give Bitch Goddess a whirl. I will definitely read the other books by Rodi.

Need fun? Read this one!

When I started reading this book, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. I guess I was sort of ho-hum about it. It was cute, funny and had a neat style to it, but there didn't seem to be anything special about it. Then, surprisingly, that all changed. Bitch Goddess really started to grow on me. Soon, I found myself reading it for hours just to find out what happened next.Viola Chute is one memorable character! Author Robert Rodi has created this fabulous life for her, a former B-movie actress who has found a rise in her career through the nighttime soap opera, The Winds of Wyndamville. But there are a few years in Viola's life that are unaccounted for. Where was she between 1979 and 1982? There are no records, articles or interviews claiming a much-needed vacation or a few years spent at a spa retreat. And when anyone brings it up, Viola is the queen of changing the subject.Mr. Harry is hired by Viola to ghostwrite her biography. While doing so, he becomes intrigued by the missing years and goes in search of the truth. And by this time, readers will be curious, too.The story is told entirely in interviews, articles, answering machine messages, faxes, e-mails, and tape-recorded conversations between Mr. Harry and Viola. It was very easy to follow along with the style, and I think this aspect of the novel is what made it so much fun to read. This is my first try with a Robert Rodi book, and I'm thinking another one will be in order soon!

An HYSTERICAL return

I've enjoyed all of Robert Rodi's novels, but this one, with its stylish correspondance style was SO MUCH FUN! The humor is intelligent, and it is so well paced that Mr. Rodi actually gives you time to breathe between major laugh-till-you-cry episodes. The parody of a scene from "An Urban Rail Conveyance Named Desire" alone, on just a few pages, is worth the entire price of this book. Congratulations, Mr. Rodi, and could we have more? It was a while between this one and Kept Boy.

Rodi's best yet

What a riot! After a slight gap between books, Rodi is back with a hilarious, spiky Hollywood satire. I've never seen anyone work so nimbly in the epistolary style. His details are perfect, and the characters, as always, are brilliant. If "Absolutely Fabulous" were a book, this would be it.I was sorry to miss Rodi when he was in New York on his book tour. I hear he put on quite a show. For now I guess I'll just have to settle for rereading some of his other novels.

hysterically entertaining

Robert Rodi is a master of his craft. Interesting style and sharp wit combine to make acid-tripping dogs and bitter back-stabbing actress antics a rollicking success in his latest novel.I just have to say this books is genius. And, for the die-hard Rodi fan, you MUST check out his new comic-book series, CODENAME: KNOCKOUT which is sinfully delicious.