The Misadventures of Maria O'Mara

By Deborah Skelly

A sharp and uproariously funny look at the modern woman, as seen through the words of a talent agent, pushing forty. Maria O'Mara on Style: "I am definitely having a bad face day, which is so much... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594480214
• ISBN13: 9781594480218
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade
• Length: 257 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.7" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Sophisticated. Smart. Sexy.

At turns hilarious and heart breaking. This book is a brutally honest social satire that had me laughing a lot. I loved the heroine, Maria and found myself drawn to her plight. She's pushing 40 and still single and hears the clanging of her biological clock. For a time she is willing to believe that Harris, a man she doesn't really like all that much, is the one for her. I loved the writing. Quick paced book in diary format but it didn't feel stilted like so many diaries do. I couldn't put it down until I finished. Great debut.

One of my fastest reads. A funny, poignant page-turner.

Alternating between funny, sad, witty, light and dark (and sometimes all at once), the one constant that keeps the story moving and compelling is the author's total sincerity. The character of Maria is very accessible because of this, and it is hard not to laugh or cry with her. The author's evident wit and intelligence make the pages turn very quickly, and as the end of the story approaches you can't help but wonder how Maria will fare. While many may get this to read tales from "inside the industry" (and there are some great moments), the story's best asset is its universality. We all have goals, dreams and ambitions. Watching Maria come to grips with hers helps us do the same.

Unexpectedly witty and very poignant

Despite the somewhat simple-minded and misleading hype on the paperback cover, I found this novel unexpectedly witty and very poignant. It is both a sly satire on the left- & right-brained coasts of the entertainment industry, and a touching look at a woman gradually unraveling in the face of having her romantic (and maternal) hopes pulled apart nerve by nerve. It is also well-written and very funny -- which makes its sadness all the more affecting, when it comes.

Heads above others in the genre!

Yes, this book is hilarious, but it is also heartbreaking. Its depiction of a woman trying to make sense of life in a shallow and corrupt culture stretches way beyond the circles of show business and "so-called" high society. Give yourself a chance to appreciate this brutally honest social satire while laughing through your tears.

A Triumph!

I read a rave review of this novel in The LA Times and then just happened to be at a bookstore the next day and started skimming a copy. It was completely addictive, by turns hilarious, tragic and very, very wise. It is probably the most insightful Hollywood novel I have read since Joan Didion's Play It As It Lays -- and yes, it is that good. A merciless skewering of the big time agency hustle; a tragicomic love story, that ends far more tragic than comic.I don't know who this Deborah Skelly is. It says on the jacket she was once a Hollywood agent and is now a lawyer. Whoever she is, she is an enormously gifted writer, who unlike so many contemporary so-called chick lit writers, actually has something important to say.