Description:
Harrison's collection of 17 imaginative stories showcase a range of styles and voices from satirical to experimental. The stories are organized into three sections: The Movies and Malibu slices and dices the Hollywood hype that elevates celluloid dreams over human relationships; Africa and Anarchy contains stories of quests for the "true" Africa, a country that "sings to itself"; and The Future and Forever speculates on the not-so-distant future, as in "Roller Ball Murder," a story that takes sports mania to the furthest extremes that competition can go. Harrison's best-known short story, and the basis for a popular movie, Roller Ball Murder describes a game populated by pampered (but pounded upon) heroes and riddled with big money, figurative backstabbing, and literal, legal murder. What more could a promoter do to sell tickets? The answer is a horrifying projection into the future of sports and human nature. In "The Makeup Man" the new face of the future depends upon special effects: the more horrifying the better. Mutilation is considered pop art, and facial scars are the fad of executives. The Fabulous Byron, better known for his creations of traditional glamour, reluctantly joins the trend for economic reasons, when a famous model begs him to make her ugly. Later, when she insists on replacing the old with a new look, it takes much more than makeup. The author wrestles with the unfathomable elements of human desire in his present-time stories, as well. The title story, "The Buddha in Malibu," dissects Hollywood's vanity and the hopes of the hangers-on. Brock goes to work as a bodyguard for an eccentric, paranoid, has-been producer named Ennis, who lives a celebrity's life even though he hasn't made a movie in years. Even after Ennis has shot and wounded Brock "accidentally," Brock finds the seductions of money and fame overwhelming his survival instincts.
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