Product Description

In praising “the witty high school romp” How I Paid for College, the New York Times Book Review said, it “makes you hope there’s a lot more where this came from.” There is. In this hilarious sequel Attack of the Theater People, Edward Zanni and his merry crew of high school musical-comedy miscreants move to the magical wonderland that is Manhattan.

It is 1986, and aspiring actor Edward Zanni has been kicked out of drama school for being “too jazz hands for Juilliard.” Mortified, Edward heads out into the urban jungle of eighties New York City and finally lands a job as a “party motivator” who gets thirteen-year-olds to dance at bar mitzvahs and charms businesspeople as a “stealth guest” at corporate events. When he accidentally gets caught up in insider trading with a handsome stockbroker named Chad, only the help of his crew from How I Paid for College can rescue him from a stretch in Club Fed.

Laced with the inspired zaniness of classic American musical comedy, Attack of the Theater People matches the big hair of the eighties with an even bigger heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91286 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-22
• Released on: 2008-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780767927734
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
PRAISE FOR HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE

“Acito has fantastic narrative chops....This is a book for mature readers that reminds us what a blast immaturity can be.” —People


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Review
PRAISE FOR HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE

“Acito has fantastic narrative chops....This is a book for mature readers that reminds us what a blast immaturity can be.” —People

About the Author

MARC ACITO’s debut novel, How I Paid for College, won the Ken Kesey Award for the Novel and was also selected as an Editors’ Choice by the New York Times. Acito is a popular contributor to the New York Times and National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Like a cold glass of Tab on a hot summer afternoon!
Okay, I admit that since discovering Marc's work when a copy of his marvelous first novel, "How I Paid for College" floated past me, I have become a fan. I've learned over the years, that some folks need their literature grounded firmly in the real world, and I suppose this book is not for them. For those of us who can't help but twirl our umbrellas when caught in a storm, and like to trek to the top of the Empire State Building so that we can belt a few lines of "New York, New York...", this book is a gift. A hilarious tale of inspirations and espionage. A delightfully wacky roller-coaster of a novel which causes eruptions of laughter...nay, guffaws and cackles at almost every page. A book that gives us a break from the tedium and depressing sogginess of the daily news. I bought six and sent them to friends who need a bit of tonic. Until somebody invents Mulliner's-Buck-U-Uppo, we need to books like this to keep the divine silliness that is life in a proper perspective.
In short, it's pure comic gold!

WARNING: You May Break into Song Reading This Novel
Maybe you've heard Marc Acito on NPR. It's possible that you've even heard the guy sing; after all, he is both an opera tenor and "mental for Yentl." But most likely, you know Marc Acito from his first novel, How I Paid for College. As the blog entries above reveal, Marc has a bright wit, and this book amply reflects it.

Acito's novel relates the further adventures of Edward Zanni and his affiliated theater geeks. Having succeeded in their quest to get Edward into the Juilliard School, we now fast-forward to 1986, and Edward is sitting on his "jazz hands" after getting booted from the school of his dreams.

What follows are a series of (dare I write it?) zany misadventures that together, resemble the plotline of a well-done musical comedy. That is, the characters do break into song periodically, and the results are actually funny. As this vehicle suggests, there's plenty of ba-ba-ba-bing zingers and, it being the 1980s, there is even an insider trading scandal. Good stuff. REALLY good stuff.

Fun Fact: Marc was at a Chuck Palahniuk reading (Fight Club) when Palahniuk remembered reading Acito's byline on a humor column. He then recommended Acito to his literary agent, and a star was born... er, referred.

Hillariously over-the-top comedy of errors!
Edward Zanni is a gay 20 year old aspiring actor, who is thrown out of drama school for being ... well ... too dramatic. With his professor's advice to "experience life" for a year, then reapply, he takes a series of strange jobs, ranging from personal office assistant to a sadistic tyrant, to a host for preteen parties (masquerading as a Brit host of the UK's version of MTV, which doesn't exist), as an usher at a Broadway theatre, and as a party facilitator for fancy corporate events. In the context of that last one, Edward gets involved in an insider trading scandal, feeding overheard conversations about companies to a securities broker he develops a serious crush on.

Although Acito provides enough background info for this to stand on its own, this is essentially a sequel to his hilarious "How I Paid For College," and is best enjoyed if you read that other book first. Back are his colorful friends, including the conniving, nerdish Natie, the outgoing student thespian Kelly, and Edward's straight-but-not-narrow (and soooo hunky) crush, Doug (who is now headlining a Bruce Springsteen cover band.) Like that first book, "..Theatre People" is a delightfully "over the top" comedy of errors, involving the Shah of Iran, a 13 year old stalker, the SEC, a high speed chase across a Broadway stage, a politically charged staging of "The Music Man," posing as a dead man to rent an apartment, the wrath of Edward's insane stepmother, and a flamboyant wardrobe designer known as Hung (That's a name, not an adjective!)

Suspend all normal channels of belief, and hang on for the ride! Five "jazz hands" (stars) out of five!