I picked this book up for about 80% off the list price. It sounded like it could he entertaining. It’s not!
Writing a fiction book about your personal experiences as a personal assistant to a Hollywood dunce isn’t funny, it’s sad.
It’s written in first person so when nothing is going on the narrator lets loose with a stream of consciousness that happens constantly and is boring not interesting, and it is annoying.
His manly man father who has hugely negatively influenced the author is also an unneeded addition. The author is gay so there is a lot of unresolved issues at play.
I found this book to be a perfect example of the crap the publishing world constantly hypes. ( )

DNF at page 184.

But the ARC has made a fabulous door prop since March, and I think about it quite frequently resultantly.

I chose this book because in the acknowledgments of Steven Rowley’s book The Guncle, he accepts Byron Lane’s marriage proposal because Lane proposed to him in the acknowledgments section of this book. How cute is that? Anyway, on to the review:

Charlie is depressed and living without purpose. He interviews for a job as Kathi Kannon’s assistant and somehow gets the job, even though he has no idea how to be an assistant. Kathi is an older actress most known for starring as Priestess Talara in a hugely popular science fiction movie. She hasn’t worked in a while and she struggles with addiction and mental illness. Charlie has always been a huge fan of hers and working as her assistant is his dream job. But once he gets the job, he soon figures out it’s going to be a lot harder than he thought it would be.

Okay, so Lane used to be Carrie Fisher’s assistant in real-life and reading this book felt like reading his memoir of being her assistant. I think he probably wrote it as a novel instead out of respect to her because it’s clear in the book that Charlie loves Kathi with all his heart even though the relationship seems one-sided. I don’t think Lane would want anyone to think badly of Carrie Fisher.

Kathi lives on the same compound as her mother, Miss Gracie, (as Carrie did with her mother Debbie Reynolds) and Miss Gracie has the financial means to make sure that Kathi never hits rock bottom. She loves her daughter and wants to protect her but she’s actually not doing her any favors by being an enabler. Charlie’s main job seems to be making sure that Kathi still functions while she keeps doing drugs, mainly prescription painkillers, and making sure she stays on the medication that keeps her bipolar in check. He does his best to keep her from taking drugs but when there’s no rock bottom, it’s a lost cause.

I mostly enjoyed A Star is Bored but I did find myself wondering why Charlie loved Kathi so much when she didn’t really seem to care about him all that much. Right off the bat, he gives her his dead mother’s locket and seems to look up to her as a mother figure when she isn’t nurturing at all. After reading this book, it would be interesting to go back and reread Carrie Fisher’s memoirs to see how they match up. I don’t know if I have time for that though! ( )

In A STAR IS BORED, by Byron Lane, we meet Charlie, a young man struggling to find his place in the world, who ends up working for Kathi Kannon, an eccentric Hollywood icon who is known to be unstable. As Charlie and Kathi's hijinks become funnier and more extreme, the question becomes: Is the balance between control and insanity bringing them tighter or forcing them apart or both?
I haven't laughed as much at a book in a long time. While Lane very clearly states that this is a work of fiction and not Carrie Fisher, who he was an assistant for, it is clear that his time with her inspired him and the reader can't help but picture Carrie Fisher while reading the book. Lane is a natural storyteller, his ability to craft a setup, a punchline, a twist and another punchline is masterful. Visiting his personal life, full of internal growth and fluctuating dating life, provides a grounding for the reader to remind us of the real world, so when Charlie reenters Kathi's world, we appreciate the comic absurdity of her life even more. The ending sneaks up on you while laughing through a particularly crazy exploit and provides a rewarding conclusion.
In a time when brevity and laughter is at a premium, A STAR IS BORED can take you to a place where life is joy and discovery and a hope for a happy life for us all.
I received a copy of this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway. ( )

3,5 stars.
It was hard for me to get used to the writing style. It's different and I'm not sure if I like it. The protagonist Charlie talks a lot to iPhone's virtual assistant Siri, which I guess is a metaphor as he himself is personal assistant to Kathi Kannon, a star he has idolized since childhood. Some parts are really hilarious - like the restaurant scene in Japan - and some parts are boring - like many things in real life are.
Charlie lost his mother when he was young and his father is overbearing. He is looking for a connection, a family of sorts. He analyses everything at length. Those parts could have been shorter overall. But the story is great, sad and funny at the same time.
Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for a copy of this book. ( )