βThere was no way moving to Los Angeles was going to make me give up my soul. After all, Iβd already seen all the movies about Hollywood. I knew how things worked.β
Twenty-four year-old Russel Middebrook and his boyfriend have moved to Los Angeles so Russel can try to make it as a screenwriter.
Almost right away, in a forgotten old house off of Sunset Boulevard, Russel meets Isaac Brander, a once-famous film producer who is convinced he can turn Russelβs screenplay into a movie.
Russel knows that success canβt possibly come this easy. After all, most of Russelβs Los Angeles friends are so desperate to make it that itβs downright scary. His ex-boyfriend, Otto, is trying everything to become an actor, and Daniel, the sexy neighbor, doesnβt even need a casting couch to get naked.
So whatβs the catch with Mr. Brander? Could it be that movies about Hollywood donβt tell the whole truth? But what does that mean for Russelβs soul?
Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams, a companion book to Brent Hartingerβs The Thing I Didnβt Know I Didnβt Know, is a fast-paced, funny story about the price of fame in Hollywood: the hilarious lengths people will go to achieve it, and the touching secret to survival when things donβt work out exactly as planned.
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