I Should Have Stayed Home
Horace McCoy
Open Road
<p>McCoy's classic, slyly funny novel about a pair of young actors trying to make it in a pitiless HollywoodFor aspiring actor Ralph Carston, all roads lead to Hollywood&#8212;but none seem to be direct or easy. The handsome Georgia native immediately finds that his Southern accent is one strike against him, though he manages to eke out a living as an extra alongside his pretty roommate Mona Matthews. But the big break for these two young hopefuls finally arrives in a curious way. When their third roommate is sentenced to three years in prison for shoplifting, Mona's emotional courtroom outburst wins her and Ralph notoriety&#8212;and entr into new social circles. Ralph becomes the self-loathing plaything of Ethel Smithers, a wealthy widow who promises much but has no interest in delivering. Mona faces romantic nightmares of her own while also being blacklisted for joining a union. A precursor to Sunset Boulevard, and reminiscent of Nathanael West, I Should Have Stayed Home is a...</p>