I guess this is what Truman Capote meant when he said "That's not writing, that's typing."

Awesome. Oh wait, William Conrad. My bad.

This chick is so boring that even Salon can't write an interesting article about how boring and talentless she is. Wow...all I can say is I'm glad I'm not in my 20s now. It seems that being a young person these days is about exciting and compelling as an afternoon in a dentist's waiting room.

At least it's good that young people are reading.

/sarcasm

When she had a one-night stand with a dog.

Yeah, I just made a Family Guy reference in the Salon letters. Sue me.

I have reached a stage in life where I have no inkling of any of these people or the shows mentioned.

Of course, I never did care but absorbed enough media where such information leeched into my consciousness. Posh Spice, anyone?

Now, nada, nothing, zilch. Not even prurient curiosity. Dee-lightful!

Does contemporary American culture redefine "shallow", or what?

I liked it better when NYC and not Tinseltown was the trendsetter for the country. NYC just had more class and more ethnic foibles in play. And East Coast style seemed to pay lip servcie to the notion that smarts counted for something. El Lay just offers up pretence, artifice, and a celebration of stupidity.

I'm from the Midwest, so consider me non-partisan toward either coast. But things have certainly changed in cultural attitudes and sensibilities 50 years.

No, seriously though, who couldn't pump that cliched plot out?

Two really hot, really smart girls (no fatties allowed in chick lit) decide they want to "plan parties" (no real jobs allowed either) and then magically get cast in a super popular TV show by an evil mustache-twirling "producer" with a really generic bad guy name like "Trevor Lord". Because, you know, naming the bad guy Dwayne just doesn't have the same ZING!

That's it. I am writing my own novel. Apparently writing the exact same plot over and over and using the exact same one dimensional carboard charcters over and over is not a roadblock to literary success, it's a requirement.

I read something like this and I think about author Larry Brown, having to borrow money from his agent to finish his last novel. I think about the actual writers out there, people who care about the craft, struggling, and it kills me.

but I haven't seen your book on profile on here.

I'm 61 and I have no clue about this weirdness. To them, I'm the weird one I guess

I lost about 10 IQ points reading this article.

I'm pretty sure if I actually read the novel I would have to be declared legally retarded.

So that's what they're calling ghostwriters these days. Come on, there's no way Conrad wrote more than a rough plot outline. Must be sweet to get paid for doing nothing more strenuous than vapid famewhoring. And no personalized autographs? How bizarre. She's an minor TV personality, not a world renowned award winning author.

I'd rather read a written version of The Wild, Wild, West by Robert Conrad than Lauren's stuff.

because you might just get it. I just can't understand people like Conrad and Kate Gosselin (sp?) who sign multi-year contracts requiring them to be followed by camera crews every minute of every day and then have the nerve to piss and moan about not having any privacy. That's like an NBA player complaining about all the running he has to do. And while I can understand (sorta) the rule against her picture being taken at the book signing, what's with the "no personalized signings"? Is her life that bloody stressful that she can't handle trying to spell someone else's name?

And Americans wonder why the rest of the world hates us so much...