Behind Sunset
Jul 2025 · Sold by Penzler Publishers
Ebook
312
Pages
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About this ebook
In this comical noir tale from the acclaimed author of the Joe the Bouncer series, a struggling writer follows a mystery into one of Los Angeles' darkest corners: the intersection of the porn industry and New Age wellness.
For generations, Hollywood has attracted all sorts of dreamers—and then has slowly crushed their aspirations. Elliott Gross is one such case; fresh out of college, he moved west from New York with hopes of writing for the silver screen and living a life of fame and fortune. A couple of years later, he's writing for an adult magazine and living in a garage.
The year is 1994 and, with the rise of the internet, the era of print pornography is in its twilight, but Raunchy's owner has enough "catch-and-kill" secrets in the vault to ensure that his power will persist as long as his silence remains valuable. When Gross is sent to write a profile on the company's newest starlet, he discovers that she has vanished seemingly without a trace. To find her, he embarks on a twisted journey through a business both seedy and carnivalesque. Rumors of a sensitive VHS tape held in the vault, which may hold the secret to Crystal's whereabouts, stir around Elliott and he stumbles into a corpse. Before his search can be concluded, a shadow of suspicion falls on Gross and his position is terminated. Then he washes up at a celebrity-anchored New Age wellness brand and discovers a world far darker and more cruel than the porn industry.
Combining David Gordon's trademark humor with a stylish, unflinching, and unpredictable plot, Behind Sunset is a comic and noir-tinged tour through Tinseltown that uncovers darkness and lightness, in equal measure, from the most unexpected of sources.
For generations, Hollywood has attracted all sorts of dreamers—and then has slowly crushed their aspirations. Elliott Gross is one such case; fresh out of college, he moved west from New York with hopes of writing for the silver screen and living a life of fame and fortune. A couple of years later, he's writing for an adult magazine and living in a garage.
The year is 1994 and, with the rise of the internet, the era of print pornography is in its twilight, but Raunchy's owner has enough "catch-and-kill" secrets in the vault to ensure that his power will persist as long as his silence remains valuable. When Gross is sent to write a profile on the company's newest starlet, he discovers that she has vanished seemingly without a trace. To find her, he embarks on a twisted journey through a business both seedy and carnivalesque. Rumors of a sensitive VHS tape held in the vault, which may hold the secret to Crystal's whereabouts, stir around Elliott and he stumbles into a corpse. Before his search can be concluded, a shadow of suspicion falls on Gross and his position is terminated. Then he washes up at a celebrity-anchored New Age wellness brand and discovers a world far darker and more cruel than the porn industry.
Combining David Gordon's trademark humor with a stylish, unflinching, and unpredictable plot, Behind Sunset is a comic and noir-tinged tour through Tinseltown that uncovers darkness and lightness, in equal measure, from the most unexpected of sources.
In this comical noir tale from the acclaimed author of the Joe the Bouncer series, a struggling writer follows a mystery into one of Los Angeles' darkest corners: the intersection of the porn industry and New Age wellness.
For generations, Hollywood has attracted all sorts of dreamers—and then h...
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About the author
David Gordon was born in New York City, attended Sarah Lawrence College and holds an MFA in Fiction as well as an MA in English and Comparative Literature, both from Columbia. He currently teaches at the Pratt Institute and Columbia’s MFA program. He has published ten books and has been translated into French, German, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, and Turkish. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell Award, was nominated for an Edgar, and was made into a feature film in Japan, where it was a bestseller and the first novel to win three major awards for foreign books. Other projects include an audio-only comic-spy-novel read by David Hasselhoff and a video game co-written with Hampton Fancher (the screenwriter of Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049). His work has appeared in Paris Review, New York Times Magazine, Fence, Purple Fashion, Harpers, and many others.
David Gordon was born in New York City, attended Sarah Lawrence College and holds an MFA in Fiction as well as an MA in English and Comparative Literature, both from Columbia. He currently teaches at the Pratt Institute and Columbia’s MFA program. He has published ten books and has been translate...
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