Synopses & Reviews
Reality TV hunk and
People magazine's "sexiest man alive", Sepp Gregory goes on a book tour to promote his debut novel, a thinly veiled autobiography. Not that Sepp has actually read the book, he doesn't have to, he lived it! The book becomes a sensation, a
New York Times bestseller, and, surprisingly, it even gets rave reviews from serious critics. Aside from Harriet Post, that is.
One of the blogosphere's most respected critics, Harriet hears the host of her favorite, high-brow, radio show gush about Sepp's abdominal muscles on-air and fears the end of civilization is upon us. She takes matters into her own hands and sets off to reveal the truth behind the bestseller and to show Sepp as the buff fraud he really is. But then Harriet reads Totally Reality, Sepp's novel, and it's totally great. Now she needs to find Sepp's ghostwriter and find out why he's wasting his talent.
She finds him, appropriately enough, at the Playboy Mansion, where he's supposed to be interviewing Sepp's former television love Roxy Sandoval for his next, highly lucrative, project. Reality and reality” collide, and a tragic accident sends Sepp and Harriet off on a sex-fueled roadtrip through the southwest. The mind meets the body, and both will be changed forever. Raw: A Love Story is Mark Haskell Smith at his best, dangerously sexy and wickedly funny.
Review
Gleefully absurd....[Smith] turns what could have been just an amusing book into an incisive, caustic and hilarious one....He's able to pull it off because his prose is so hard-boiled and self-assured he comes across as the slightly more well-adjusted offspring of Hunter S. Thompson and James Ellroy....A hilarious and occasionally an unexpectedly sweet illustration of why we write and read in the first place.” Los Angeles Times
Review
Audacious satire.” Vanity Fair
Review
Outrageous...consistently surprising, fast-paced and nearly always funny, Raw is more than just a lively romp. Smith saves his best satire for a topic he knows all too well: the publishing industry. In Raw...Smith skewers it with as much gleeful zeal as he attacks his much easier targets." Daily Beast
Review
No contemporary pop culture touchstone or literary idol emerges from the book unscathed by Smith's playful scrutiny.” Los Angeles Magazine
Review
Readers familiar with Mark Haskell Smith's novels know all about the sharp, oddball sense of humor that permeates Raw. For those who don't, think somewhere along the lines of Carl Hiaasen social commentary combined with outrageous laughs....[A] brash and brainy slice of satire that skewers our base and high-minded interests in one fell swoop....Hilarious.” Shelf Awareness
Review
The four strangers brought together in Raw are at times so vivid that you want to meet them....[A] fast (and fun) story.” Los Angeles Review of Books
Review
Amusing and intermittently outright funny....[Smith's] caricatures land squarely on the mark.” Boston Globe
Review
Thoroughly enjoyable....By turns racy and profound.” Booklist
Review
"LA writer Smith is back with another frothy satire." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
"Only an imaginative satirist can outpace the world's absurdity, but Mark Haskell Smith manages it with
Raw, a super-fun, super-wild, and sneakily thoughtful take on American literary and entertainment excess."--Steve Hely, author of
How I Became a Famous Novelist Sepp Gregory, a reality-TV hunk and one of People magazine's "sexiest men alive," is on tour to promote his debut novel. Not that Sepp's actually read the book--he doesn't have to, he lived it And everyone just wants him to take his shirt off.
The book has hit the bestseller list and is even getting rave reviews from serious critics. Aside from Harriet Post, that is. One of the blogosphere's most respected literary minds, Harriet fears that the novel's reception means the end of civilization is upon us. Determined to pen an expose on the publishing industry, Harriet hijacks the book tour and uncovers the ghostwriter. Reality and "reality" collide, and a tragic accident sends Sepp and Harriet off on a sex-fueled roadtrip through the southwest. Raw: A Love Story is Mark Haskell Smith at his raucous best, dangerously sexy and wickedly funny.
Synopsis
Sepp Gregory, a reality-TV hunk and one of
People magazine's "sexiest men alive," is on tour to promote his debut novel. Not that Sepp's actually read the book — he doesn't have to, he lived it! And everyone just wants him to take his shirt off.
The book has hit the bestseller list and is even getting rave reviews from serious critics. Aside from Harriet Post, that is. One of the blogosphere's most respected literary minds, Harriet fears that the novel's reception means the end of civilization is upon us. Determined to pen an expose on the publishing industry, Harriet hijacks the book tour and uncovers the ghostwriter. Reality and "reality" collide, and a tragic accident sends Sepp and Harriet off on a sex-fueled roadtrip through the southwest. Raw: A Love Story is Mark Haskell Smith at his raucous best, dangerously sexy and wickedly funny.
About the Author
Mark Haskell Smith is the author of five novels, Moist, Delicious, Salty, Baked, and Raw, and the non-fiction Heart of Dankness: Underground Botanists, Outlaw Farmers, and the Race for the Cannabis Cup. His work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Vulture, National Post, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Smith is an award-winning screenwriter and assistant professor in the MFA program for Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside, Palm Desert Graduate Center. He lives in Los Angeles. He likes Mexican food.