Review by Helyn Trickey

Web posted on: Thursday, July 09, 1998 4:04:26 PM EDT

(CNN) -- Epic things can happen when your girlfriend up and leaves you. Some folks seek therapy. Others are drawn to sleazy nightclubs with dollar beer specials and even cheaper women. But Henry Halloran, the Protagonist in Peter Farrelly's new novel, "The Comedy Writer", takes the high road -- literally.

Halloran leaves his all-American family in the Northeast and drives cross-country to the neon world of Hollywood, California. His goal is simple.

"By Vegas my mission was clear. I'd polish the screenplay I'd kicked out my last six weeks in Boston ... I had to work fast ... I had to do something spectacular. I knew that was the only way she would take me back."

Convinced that his brilliant writing will work a spell over the Hollywood elite -- and woo his lost love back -- the main character cruises through sunny Venice looking for a cheap surrogate home.

Halloran's real-life run in with a woman precarioulsy perched atop an L.A. office highrise is fodder for his first published short story. The protagonist is finding success, so why can't he sleep at night? Why is he making weekly treks to the doctor, sure he is afflicted with cancer, Parkinson's, etc.?

Even as he finds success in the squeeze-bottle tan town of Hollywood, Halloran's personal guilt grows. Out of money and in need of some serious therapy, he finally finagles a free psychotherapy session by filling out a bogus application for the Big Brothers organization.

"The Comedy Writer" is a joy to read, in part, because it does not reveal Henry Halloran's true nature too fast. The main character's preponderance for masturbation and his ensuing guilt reminds us of the protagonist in "Portnoy's Complaint". Farrelly endows Halloran with a healthy mixture of good and bad qualities -- enough for the reader to identify with, anyway.

Equipped with dialogue that elicits belly laughs, this novel is a quick-witted read. The ending is wrapped a little too neatly and tightly -- as if a deadline looms. But if you like the taste of a dry martini you will most certainly enjoy this tale of Tinseltown and the one that got away.

Helyn Trickey is an associate producer at CNN Interactive.

Related sites:

• 'The Comedy Writer' Website