Jonathan Selwood The Pinball Theory of the Apocalypse

The Pinball Theory of the Apocalypse

Jonathan Selwood

Harper, Jul 2007, $13.95

ISBN: 9780061173875

In Los Angeles artist Isabel Raven copies Impressionist masterpieces for wealthy patrons who cannot afford the originals. However, local art dealer to uniformed and misinformed Dahlman thinks her twists of combining the classics with modern day images and symbols can make them money. So he promotes her work as the next great wave while display photos of her on the Net that she would prefer remain personal; she becomes an artsy in thing as the "It Girl". However, on the down side Dahlman threatens to carve her up if she fails to sign an agent's agreement with him.

Dahlman's emu evisceration threat and her boyfriend's cheating on her seem minor when Isabel considers her physicist string theory father's scientific conclusion involving Jupiter melting Pluto or is that Uranus or some other planetary giant as belch; regardless the solar system is counting down to tilt with the apocalypse coming soon.

THE PINBALL THEORY OF APOCALYPSE is an amusing zany satirical frolic that takes no prisoners as Jonathan Selwood skewers the Hollywood world in which promotion, advertisement, and spin is more critical to success than talent. Readers will appreciate the combining of art and science as Raven knows she must make it by October 9, 2049 while having to choose between Dahlman's phony campaign and being herself even if that means modernized rip-offs of the greats. This is a terrific mocking of the American way to fame and fortune; as it is not how good the item is, nor how hard you work on the product, or what you produce; it is the sell.

Harriet Klausner