Echoes of the Garfy Multiverse

Pryka debuts with a tart if uneven satire of Hollywood ambition and the craze for self-improvement. Nerdy and obese Craig Bunny, 34, lives with his mom outside Los Angeles and can only find acting work in commercials for an IBS treatment. He’s certain that he’s destined for more and hopes his increasingly complex plans for a film adaptation of a classic comic strip called Garfy (a thinly veiled Garfield) will be his big break. When Natasha, an attractive newcomer to his writing group, announces that she’s secured the rights for a film about Prince Michael of Sealand, Craig decides it’s time to make some changes. He hires a life coach named Chad, who puts him on an extreme diet and exercise regimen and encourages him to affect a husky voice. Under Chad’s guidance, Craig grows more confident, even as he goes broke from the coach’s exorbitant fees. He pressures his agent, Denise, into getting his script in front of industry folks, but as his behavior becomes erratic, he risks blowing his chances. Much of the novel’s intended humor is scatological, and it wears thin. Better are the caustic showbiz jokes, as when Denise, who told Craig she specializes in scouting for “normal people,” tells others that she’s actually in the business of “freak hunting.” This has its moments. (Self-published)