Elimination Night

This trivial behind-the-scenes look at a talent show takes jabs at American Idol. Project Icon has lost its star judge, the snarky Nigel Crowther, and after many mishaps replaces the show’s judges with Joey Lovecraft, “the devil” on the panel, with a history of drug and alcohol addiction that led to the demise of his band; Bibi Vasquez, a pop singer famous for her big rear end; and session musician Jason Dee turned JD Coolz, the overweight “American everyman.” The narrator is Sasha King, called “Bill” by her boss because she is assuming the duties of the ailing male assistant producer, the lackey in charge of rallying the big egos as they continuously stir up trouble on- and off-set. The transparency of the book’s American Idol characterization is annoying and uninspired. Attempts throughout at satire, not only of television and reality television but also of corporate and American culture (a big corporation is called “The Big Corporation,” for instance) fall flat. The odds that this book will be eliminated in the first round are high. (Jan. 8)