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Rating: 
Summary: "Imagine sacrificing your life to a maniac."
Review: "A Way of Life Like Any Other" is a delightful semi-autobiographical book based on the childhood of author, Darcy O'Brien. His parents were both Hollywood stars in the 30s. His father was George O'Brien--also known as "the Chest" and he starred in many cowboy films--including "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Riders of the Purple Sage." Darcy O'Brien's mother was actress Marguerite Churchill. Darcy, who was named by his mother after the character in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", spent his early childhood in Casa Fiesta--a mansion in Malibu. He notes that he "would not change the beginning for anything", for he was the pampered centre of everyone's attention, and adored and loved by both of his parents. By the end of WWII, however, Darcy's parents split up and were impoverished. The mansion was sold, and Darcy went to live with his mother in Los Angeles. Darcy's mother was far from stable. She was on the constant hunt for the new, perfect man, and the novel details the men who parade through her bedroom. She finally selects a Russian named Anatol, a sculptor who specializes in classical statues all engaged in a variety of strange, erotic acts. Darcy's parents are portrayed with kind, generous and humorous detail. His potty mother takes every opportunity to make life a 'B' film--and she is, of course, cast in the starring role as the remarkable heroine or the helpless victim of fate. She's pretentious, amazingly shallow and selfish, and yet in spite of all these negative qualities, Darcy's relationship to his mother remains enviable--if only for the entertainment value. Darcy's father is hilarious. He's the stable parent of the two, and he tells incredible stories of his past Hollywood days--some of the stories are pure fiction, but some turn out to be completely true. Darcy's father is every bit as entertaining as Darcy's mother--not as dramatic, but he holds more surprises. The novel is extremely funny--one of my favourite scenes occurs when the long-divorced parents join together for Thanksgiving dinner with an ex-agent and her avocado-obsessed husband. "A Way Of Life Like Any Other" could easily have been written from a "Mommie Dearest" perspective, but, instead the author's viewpoint leaves us enjoying his parents and their human foibles. It was clearly the author's intent to regard his parents with a sort of generous, appreciative marvel--and he succeeded admirably--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: "Imagine sacrificing your life to a maniac."
Review: "A Way of Life Like Any Other" is a delightful semi-autobiographical book based on the childhood of author, Darcy O'Brien. His parents were both Hollywood stars in the 30s. His father was George O'Brien--also known as "the Chest" and he starred in many cowboy films--including "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Riders of the Purple Sage." Darcy O'Brien's mother was actress Marguerite Churchill. Darcy, who was named by his mother after the character in Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", spent his early childhood in Casa Fiesta--a mansion in Malibu. He notes that he "would not change the beginning for anything", for he was the pampered centre of everyone's attention, and adored and loved by both of his parents. By the end of WWII, however, Darcy's parents split up and were impoverished. The mansion was sold, and Darcy went to live with his mother in Los Angeles. Darcy's mother was far from stable. She was on the constant hunt for the new, perfect man, and the novel details the men who parade through her bedroom. She finally selects a Russian named Anatol, a sculptor who specializes in classical statues all engaged in a variety of strange, erotic acts. Darcy's parents are portrayed with kind, generous and humorous detail. His potty mother takes every opportunity to make life a 'B' film--and she is, of course, cast in the starring role as the remarkable heroine or the helpless victim of fate. She's pretentious, amazingly shallow and selfish, and yet in spite of all these negative qualities, Darcy's relationship to his mother remains enviable--if only for the entertainment value. Darcy's father is hilarious. He's the stable parent of the two, and he tells incredible stories of his past Hollywood days--some of the stories are pure fiction, but some turn out to be completely true. Darcy's father is every bit as entertaining as Darcy's mother--not as dramatic, but he holds more surprises. The novel is extremely funny--one of my favourite scenes occurs when the long-divorced parents join together for Thanksgiving dinner with an ex-agent and her avocado-obsessed husband. "A Way Of Life Like Any Other" could easily have been written from a "Mommie Dearest" perspective, but, instead the author's viewpoint leaves us enjoying his parents and their human foibles. It was clearly the author's intent to regard his parents with a sort of generous, appreciative marvel--and he succeeded admirably--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: a book unlike any other
Review: A wonderous book which evvelips the mind of a child reared by ext movie star parents. This novel is a witty (sublime) and sadly delicate tale. yadadadadaddadada. read it. add it to yr LA fiction list.
Rating: 
Summary: A fine portrait of the artist as a young man
Review: Darcey O'Brien's fine Bildungsroman is a very funny and lethal depiction of a golden Hollywood childhood which begins to tarnish as his parents' careers do. The narrator's parents--a histrionic former screen beauty obsessed with sex and a former Western star of amiable disposition but sometimes hidden motives--unconsciously (and even sometimes consciously) wreak all kinds of havoic in their son's life, but as he gets older the son begins to fight back in covert ways. This was exactly the kind of book that the NYRB series was created to revive: a funny and poignant novel of sterling quality that somehow slipped through the cracks of readers' attention years ago and deserves a new chance.
Rating:
Summary: A Way of Life
Review: Darcy O'Brien combines the surreal humor of Flann O'Brien and the limpid prose of the young James Joyce and somehow writes a coming of age book which transcends both mentors in some ways. Lean, cool, dry, witty, but in the end, mysteriously poignant. Anthony Powell always argued that seen at close range all human beings, driven as they are at different speeds by the same furies, are equally extraordinary. O'Brien proves Powell's point, in prose reminscent of that master's early comic novels.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Feat of Compression and Eloquence
Review: The writing here is so filled with generosity, compassion, and dark humor -- it's a most charming view of life. A coming-of-age novel about a boy who grows up in post-WW II Hollywood, shuffling between unforgettable, screwed-up parents. There's not a dead sentence here. It's short, but O'Brien captures it all. Completely re-readable. Keep it by your bedside to inspire and forgive your own life when you feel like it's trying to beat you down.
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastic Novel
Review: This is a MUST. Indeed it is Caulden Houlfield in Hollywood. If you like Catcher in the Rye, most likely you will love this book. It really is a great story with some great humor.
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