Chore Whore

February 7, 2005
Hen lit meets The Devil Wears Prada
in this rambling peek into the world of spoiled, demanding celebrities by a former personal assistant to the stars. Forty-something Corki Brown is juggling single motherhood and a job as a personal assistant/24-7 concierge/ Jane-of-all-trades to a stable of Hollywood movers and shakers, all seemingly incapable of tying their own shoelaces. Thirty different clients need unique gifts for Steven Spielberg's birthday? Done. An actress needs an intimate dinner for 10 whipped up in a matter of hours—each guest with their own personalized diet? No problem. Used condoms need to be scooped off the floor because even the maid won't do it? Corki's got it covered. Cleaning lady, gofer, psychologist, she plays dozens of roles; not one of them, unfortunately, as a mother with time enough for her 10-year-old son, Blaise. But when sweet, airheaded star Lucy Bennett shows up for lunch with a black eye (courtesy of her new cowboy husband), and gruff actor Jock Straupman finds himself being blackmailed for his dalliances with teenage girls and wants Corki to make the money drop—one Tinseltown assistant has had enough. Readers might find it hard to care, though; Corki's clients are caricatures, and the plot meanders aimlessly from pouting celebrity to unreasonable request and back again, with neither enough humor nor glitter. Agent, Martin Groothius
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