Maura Moynihan Covergirl: Confessions of a Flawed Hedonist

Covergirl: Confessions of a Flawed Hedonist

Maura Moynihan

Regan (HarperCollins), Aug 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 0060756578

In the 1980s upon graduating from college, Veronica Ferris returns to Manhattan where her mom the "New Helena" attends parties for the upper crust and her father John occasionally returns from diplomatic posts in Katmandu, Zimbabwe, or some other locale that his wife avoids. Helena is displeased with the return of the prodigal daughter who acts anything but the proper debutante from her "shoe-polished" hair to her freaky footwear. Instead, Veronica acts like a rebellette without a cause as she struggles with keeping the family reputation in high society while doing the disco scene.

At a disco bash at Luna Ticks, John Penn, renowned cover artist of Page magazine, meets Veronica. He decides she would look great as his next cover model. Through Page magazine, Veronica meets cover peer rock star Davey Name. They begin a secret tryst that is exposed by the media. Needing to escape the frenzy, Veronica volunteers at an orphanage in Katmandu where she blunders into a free Tibet movement seeking a covergirl, preferably homegrown.

COVERGIRL: CONFESSIONS OF A FLAWED HEDONIST lampoons the let them eat cake lifestyle of the rich and famous, shreds the American superiority complex, and tears apart the media celebrity frenzy while providing a fun coming of age satirical tale. Veronica is a fascinating protagonist as she walks a thin line between the family reputation and adhering to Lauper philosophy that "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". At times the plot can go over the Himalayans, but no one will care as the heroine struggles to enjoy life yet do the right thing to make her dad hold her in high regard not understanding that as his beloved offspring he always will regardless of what she does.

Harriet Klausner