IN TROUBLE

As the son of writer William Saroyan and the stepson of Walter Matthau, Saroyan has plenty of family history to fall back on when it comes to exploring the mindset of an artist, something he does with humor and aplomb in his first short story collection. The book is built primarily around two longer works. "Love Scenes" chronicles the romantic and erotic life of an actor through a series of flashbacks after he gets involved with a costume artist and contemplates an affair with his co-star during his first leading role, while "My Literary Life" peeks through the other side of the Hollywood looking glass, describing the vicissitudes of a writer's career as he bounces back and forth from novels to screenplays to PR work. Saroyan's entertaining voice and his insider's knowledge of the Tinseltown scene compensate for his tendency to wander frequently during the narration, a problem that doesn't hinder the quality of the two main entries, but becomes distracting in some of the 13 shorter tales. Of the four very short stories (two and three pages), several consist of musings, snippets and vignettes that often seem like rough sketches and throwaways, but Saroyan can also blindside readers with his insights and observations about a world in which movie producers can suggest with a straight face that Neil Diamond in blackface would be a logical choice to play Malcolm X. The oxymoron that we know as Hollywood creativity has certainly been skewered by some talented writers, but Saroyan's probing, funny glimpse into that unique universe can stand with the best of them. (Feb. 15)