Scandalocity - Paperback

by Coerte V. W. Felske (Author)

"Tom Wolfe rewrites American Gigolo." - Kirkus ReviewsAuthor Coerte V.W. Felske's Scandalocity comes on the heels of his highly-acclaimed "dolce vita fiction" trilogy: The Shallow Man, Word, and The Millennium Girl. Zeitgeist for the Information Age, the novel is set against the backdrop of the starry lights and glamorous nights of New York City. Defined as "The speed at which scandal, measured in velocity, can turn you into a star," Scandalocity is a sexy, ADHD psychological thriller, and the master of guilty pleasure prose takes on our technology-driven, media-consumed, and celebrity-obsessed culture in a taut, explosive narrative. Protagonist Harry Starslinger is a neurologically disordered online gossip columnist who becomes embroiled in the police investigation of his girlfriend's murder. Like Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground, the book takes off in roaring first-person as we ride Harry's spontaneous, insightful thoughts. One of the most connected men in the City, where his high-profile position as a purveyor of celebrity gossip offers him access anywhere, anytime, "Slinger" finds it difficult to founder life-sustaining connections in a rocket-paced world of IMs, iPods and e-mails, social networking sites, and hand-held techie toys. The story unfolds in parallel between the ongoing murder investigation and the burgeoning romance with the victim in the past. There's more murder, a manhunt, and Harry becomes the hunted one. A pulsating page-turner, the novel combines the scalding thematic tones of Odets and Lehman's The Sweet Smell of Success with the suspense and dramatic twists of Kasden's erotic cinema thriller Body Heat. Felske's fourth installment in his "dolce vita fiction" series, Scandalocity crackles with razor sharp vernacular and a lexicon's worth of bleeding edge phraseologies, hallmarks of the author's inimitable life-in-the-fast-lane literature. (The Dolce Vita Press, 2010)Front and back covers by Peter Beard featuring supermodel Irina Shayk on double-exposed Giant Polaroids, 2009---------------------------------------------ACCLAIM FOR THE WORKS OF COERTE V.W. FELSKE"The Shallow Man novel is crass, entertaining, slangy, and reeking of sun bronze and the fresh turnover of fleshy delights makes the narrator's decision to become an aging roué instead of a responsible adult seem like an honest, admirable choice. Felske writes like a gigolo and treats seduction as a dirty sport." -- James Wolcott, Vanity Fair"Model Citizen: the story of a man who never met a beautiful woman he didn't like." -- David Kelley, The New York Times Book Review"Favorite Novel: The Shallow Man by Coerte Felske which begins with the line 'I never met a model I didn't like.'"-- Candace Bushnell, Vogue"Coerte V.W. Felske's novel The Shallow Man turned the fashion world on its head-and introduced the term 'modelizer' into the collective consciousness."-- Detour"A Model Wordsmith."-- New York Magazine"In his first novel, The Shallow Man, Coerte V.W. Felske spins a clever tale of the narcissistic world of fashion modeling. Nick reminds us, "Never judge a book by its contents." Certainly not this book. It's fun, flash, and filigree--a sexy, witty spoof of the Nineties."-- Digby Diehl, Playboy"Shallow waters run deep. This stunning unreflective man knows more than you think. Reading the quick-witted prose one begins to think Nick Laws is like Hamlet without the mental baggage, tumbling Ophelia by Act II. Felske's The Shallow Man makes a case for the unexamined life."-- Esquire"Spiked with original Nickspeak and hilarious dialogue, Felske's depiction of the physically elite is so clever in its anthropological detail that we can forgive his protagonist for just about anything."-- People"PLAYBOY CENTERFOLD DATA SHEET, 'Favorite Book: "The Shallow Man" by Coerte Felske. It's about a very shallow man and his involvements with models.'"--Priscilla Lee Taylor, Miss March, 1996, Playboy

Author Biography

Coerte V.W. Felske was born in New York City and grew up in Manhattan and Quogue, Long Island. He attended Bronxville High School and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College. He did his graduate work in film directing and screenwriting at Columbia University. The Shallow Man, originally published in 1995, was his first novel. His second novel, Word, came out in 1998 followed by The Millennium Girl in 2000. In 2008, the author established his independent literary imprint The Dolce Vita Press founded in conjunction with Amazon to publish and distribute his books. The imprint's inaugural publication was The Shallow Man:15th Anniversary Edition released in September, 2009 followed by Scandalocity in May, 2010. In August, 2012 special anniversary editions of the acclaimed Word and The Millennium Girl were released along with the publication of Felske's newest original novel, The Ivory Stretch, in January, 2013. The author launched The DVP to have significant contact with readership and to exercise creative control over his work from the editing to the covers, utilizing the top artists of the day. The DVP label derives from the Italian "dolce vita," which translates to the "sweet life." Felske was influenced by Federico Fellini's masterwork, La Dolce Vita, a cinematic tale of a decadent group of glamorous partiers, nightclubbers, and exotic women as they navigate through Rome's high society pursued by a playboy paparazzo. The author has referred to his early literature as "dolce vita fiction," stories about nightclub impresarios, serial womanizers, fashionistas, fortune hunting women, entertainment business hopefuls, and scandal scribes entrenched in a similar dolce vita circuitry; i.e., characters living modern versions of that illusory 'sweet life' depicted in Fellini's film. In addition to the The Ivory Stretch, the author has two more completed works coming soon. Felske's Chemical/Animal, his take on marriage in the 21st century and his 2nd written in first person as a woman, will be released in late 2013; A Touch of Noir will be released in 2014, a 1940s Hollywood detective mystery-thriller. All Felske titles for The DVP are available at the author's Web site coertefelske.com, thedolcevitapress.com, Amazon.com, BN.com, independent bookstores and e-book distributors worldwide. To request a review or signed copy, write to the publisher, or for news, updates and an in-depth biography visit the author's Web site at coertefelske.com.