Elizabeth Brundage discusses "A Stranger Like You"
Series: Poets of the Tabloid Murder
From: Steven Nester
Length: 00:25:03
Hollywood goes Hollyweird in this intense, provocative thriller about power, war, and the portrayal of women in film from Brundage (Somebody Else's Daughter). When Hedda Chase, a producer at Gladiator Films, rejects The Adjuster, a violently sexist movie script by insurance underwriter Hugh Waters, Hugh makes a special trip from his home in New Jersey to L.A. After locating where she lives, he confronts Hedda in her driveway and demands an explanation. Unhappy with her response, he drugs and stuffs Hedda in the trunk of her vintage BMW. He drives the car to an LAX parking lot and walks away. Hugh proceeds to befriend Hedda's boyfriend, married documentary filmmaker Tom Foster, and otherwise make a new life for himself, ditching his wife and job back in Jersey while Hedda barely clings to life. Brundage brilliantly shifts back and forth between Hugh, Hedda, and Denny, an injured Iraq war veteran, who plays a key role in Hedda's fate. The action culminates in illuminating revelations about the intersection of theater with reality.
Also in the Poets of the Tabloid Murder series
Nick Tosches discusses "Save the Last Dance for Satan"
(00:30:45)
From: Steven Nester
The author of seventeen books, Nick Tosches lives in New York City.
Tess Gerritsen discusses "The Silent Girl"
(00:28:22)
From: Steven Nester
A physician and the author of fourteen novels, Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.
Jeff Abbott discusses "Adrenaline"
(00:28:34)
From: Steven Nester
Jeff Abbott is a writer living in Texas.
James Rollins talks about "The Devil Colony"
(00:24:29)
From: Steven Nester
James Rollins is a writer and veterinarian and lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Patrick DeWitt discusses The Sisters Brothers
(00:27:37)
From: Steven Nester
Patrick DeWitt is a novelist who lives in Oregon.
Mark Seal discusses "The Man in the Rockefeller Suit"
(00:29:17)
From: Steven Nester
A journalist for thirty-five years, Mark Seal is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.
Ace Atkins discusses "Infamous"
(00:29:45)
From: Steven Nester
Ace Atkins is the author of eight novels. He lives on a farm in Mississippi.
William Dietrich discusses "The Barbary Pirates"
(00:30:54)
From: Steven Nester
William Dietrich is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, an
educator, and a novelist.
Hallie Ephron discusses "Come and Find Me'
(00:28:30)
From: Steven Nester
Hallie Ephron is a journalist and fiction writer living in New England.
Wallace Stroby discusses "Cold Shot to the Heart"
(00:26:32)
From: Steven Nester
A former newspaperman, Wallace Stroby lives in New Jersey.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Hollywood goes Hollyweird in this intense, provocative thriller about power, war, and the portrayal of women in film from Brundage (Somebody Else's Daughter). When Hedda Chase, a producer at Gladiator Films, rejects The Adjuster, a violently sexist movie script by insurance underwriter Hugh Waters, Hugh makes a special trip from his home in New Jersey to L.A. After locating where she lives, he confronts Hedda in her driveway and demands an explanation. Unhappy with her response, he drugs and stuffs Hedda in the trunk of her vintage BMW. He drives the car to an LAX parking lot and walks away. Hugh proceeds to befriend Hedda's boyfriend, married documentary filmmaker Tom Foster, and otherwise make a new life for himself, ditching his wife and job back in Jersey while Hedda barely clings to life. Brundage brilliantly shifts back and forth between Hugh, Hedda, and Denny, an injured Iraq war veteran, who plays a key role in Hedda's fate. The action culminates in illuminating revelations about the intersection of theater with reality.
