1940's - Spanning Maria Laguna's life immigrating from Italy to America, the book covers a lot of history of the time as well as telling Maria's personal story of trying to make it in America. Her rise in the Mercury Pictures company takes her from the entry level to a position of power. There is a lot of history covered in this book, almost too much, and the characters were not endearing, but the story was interesting. My thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this e-book.

A tale of 1940's Hollywood and Sicily. While most characters kept my interest, there were a few who did not. The book tells of how refugees from Hitler's Europe were able to find a safe life in Hollywood. Anthony Marra is an amazing writer and I look forward to his next book.

Anthony Marra’s sophomore novel, Mercury Pictures Presents, is the first of his novels I’ve had the pleasure to read. Now that I have, I definitely want to read his debut, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, which won the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was longlisted for the National Book Award. I’m grateful to Mr. Marra, Random House, and NetGalley for providing me a free, advanced digital copy of Mercury Pictures Presents for my review.

I loved everything about this book. It is masterfully written, contains fascinating, well-developed characters, and a compelling and interesting plot spanning several countries, mostly Italy and the United States, over multiple time periods, including the beginning of the twentieth century, World War II, and the late twentieth century. It provides intricate details regarding the inner-workings of the motion picture industry, at least as it was in its earliest days, as well as its relationship to the US government and US military, just before and during WWII. It also provides glimpses of life in and around Los Angeles during this same time period. Mercury Pictures Presents was so much fun to read that I devoured its 400 plus pages in just over 2 days.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This family saga follows Maria Lagana from Mussolini's Italy to 1940s Los Angeles. As a child in Rome, her father takes her to the cinema instead of church and she develops a lifelong passion for films. When Giuseppe is arrested and imprisoned by for subversive activities against the fascist regime, Maria and her mother Maria immigrate to safety in Los Angeles.

Maria rises from the typing pool to associate producer at Mercury Pictures, a creator of B-movies. The studio is always on the verge of bankruptcy and under the thumb of the Production Code for affronting the sensibilities of the movie-going public. “I can’t show a husband and wife faithfully married for fifty years sleeping in the same bed without that two-bit Torquemada Joe Breen farting brimstone on me,” quips irreverent studio head Artie Feldman.

In his 400+ pages, author Anthony Marra alternates between post-Pearl Harbor, where Maria must register as an internal alien, and war-torn Italy. I’ve read dozens of WWII historical fiction, but Marra wrote of something I’ll probably never forget: “The pilots wear insectile oxygen masks unnecessary for low altitude bombing runs but mandated since airmen began passing out from the smell of burning flesh rising from German and Japanese cities.”

The plot was fascinating on many levels, but the author’s verbosity and level of detail were occasionally overkill. He did a wonderful job with characterization, though, particularly Artie, whose antics made me laugh, but I found his brother Ned’s anti-Christian comments offensive.

Mercury Pictures Presents is hard to rate. There were some aspects I adored, and others I didn’t care for at all. The novel included impressive historical detail, but it might have been better split into two books. In my mind’s eye, I could picture the author smiling as he typed out his witty banter, but it was too much. He spent so much effort being clever that the story suffered—it took me longer than usual to read because I had to stop and refer to my dictionary too often. Too many storylines, too much minutiae. Marra is no doubt a gifted writer. This book was just not my style. 3 stars.

It took me a while to get into this one and I think I need to try from the beginning again later- I read it too choppy! I love a female working a high level job in the 40s though!

I wanted to read this because of the author. A constellation of vital phenomena was so damn good. This book made me think of all the movies around old pictures/films. It really drives home the class differences, racial differences and just the general atmosphere of the time. And Maria is a badass.

I loved the premise of this book, and it sounded very interesting. It is not. The writing style is very jarring and uninteresting. I have tried reading this book my standard four tries, and I cannot go forward. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me.

This is a wonderful story! A mash up of emigres from Europe ( forced out by Mussolini and Nazi occupation )who land in the film industry.(think the cast of Casablanca) Mercury Pictures is a small, struggling movie studio and the owner/partner and his brother (also emigres) have a complicated and complex battle between themselves. which has been going on over the course of many years. Juxtaposed with this is the story of Maria Lugano, her mother and aunts who have fled Italy for California, leaving behind Maria's father who is a 'confino (Mussolini's political prisoners.) restricted to a small colony of 'confinos" in Italy. Maria ends up advancing at Mercury Studios crossing paths with fellow emigres , one who has ties to her missing father. The way the story winds through the lives of all these people is superb. The story is poignant, bittersweet, heart wrenching but also told with a good deal of (dark) humor. I really enjoyed this and found it's exploration of the American movie business during WWII, the emigres who found work there and the life of political prisoners in Italy to be fascinating. I think this is a must read

"Mercury Pictures Presents" by Anthony Marra is an interesting, captivating historical fiction, set in the 1940's in LA. Full of complicated characters from various countries, with loaded pasts, trying to make a new life for themselves, with their personal atonements, at the background of WWII and Hollywood. I appreciated the way this book was seamlessly weaved, into a cohesive story. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Amazing read! This is a novel that's so complicated while simultaneously thrilling and witty.
The story encompasses Hollywood as its main focus and the US is embroiled in World War 2. Hollywood represents so many varied options, opportunities, destructive tendencies and so much more in the pages of this book. It revolves around the character, Maria Lagana, who has immigrated with her mother from Italy to Hollywood. There she meets Artie Feldman, the founder of Mercury Pictures, and so begins the literary ride. To begin to decipher the plot here would only detract from the book itself.
The numerous characters, their intoxicating dreams and their provocative deficiencies are so beautifully depicted. The historic timelines are described with such intensity. The writing is beyond beautiful Each sentence carries such meaning and the author's command of language is wondrous. To read this book is an exhilarating experience. Stunning!

Italian perspective during WWII-on both the war front and the American homefront.

I enjoyed the joint perspectives in this descriptive novel from the mountains of Italy to the Hollywood lights. This story explores who was in the motion picture industry leaving up to and during the 1930s and 40s-fear, power, money, and politics all push the emigree community to prove their 'American loyalty'. Marra painted both the hope of a new life with the contrast of being the new guy.
I did think the cast of characters could've been whittled and some of the scenes weren't needed for the whole.

While Anthony Marra has had a wonderfully successful career prior to Mercury Pictures Presents, this was the first book of his that I have read. It is immediately apparent that Marra is a writer with a unique knack for building vibrant environments of historical geography and cultural characterization that I can only compare to the Russian greats. The scenery and scope of Mercury pictures make a character of Italy and the early Hollywood era and its indie studios fighting for dominance, but the bit players in the story are just as important to the bigwigs, and Marra convincingly weaves the fabric of a bygone time and place that never existed to craft a gorgeous story.

In this story, Maria Lagana and her mother move to the United States from Rome when her father is arrested for a series of events that we are not entirely sure he is responsible for. After all, “every parent is a failed dictator.” When she arrives, she is thrust into working for a struggling independent movie studio filled with some memorable characters that truly capture the cultural mélange of the early twentieth century. Asian actors are typecast in roles opposite white actors playing Asians, white actors are pulled into propaganda films churned out by the handful while alarming war footage remains on the shelf because it doesn’t seem realistically warlike, and the demons of a young girl’s family’s past in Rome come back to haunt her and forces her to confront the monstrosity of existing as an outsider who cannot help but navigate her way to doing her best to heal and provide some kind of restitution for everyone involved.

While Maria is the main character, there are many small moments with some we never see again that contribute to the gorgeous tapestry of the novel. Artie Feldman, a man who “read Il Duce’s autobiography for parenting tips,” becomes a secondary character with reliable wit and comedy to help steer Maria’s career and choices all while poorly managing the film studio. Eventually, World War II begins to encroach on the studio, its work, and the actors and support staff paid to create some of the less popular films of the time but some of the most significant American propaganda, and we learn quickly that “it’s better to succeed as a villain than fail as a hero” both on and off the silver screen.

One particular line in the book really stood out to me that beautifully reflects the themes of how history can reverberate in a lifetime. “Our children aren’t whole. They’re just broken in more delicate ways by finer instruments...” to which another character replies, “being broken delicately is what I call whole.” This book is about the ways in which intergenerational actions can span the lives of people and the distances between communities, and it is a beautiful portrait of a time and a place that only existed for a short while. Marra’s stunning camera work in this book is unmistakably fine, and it was an absolute pleasure to read – perfect for fans of old Hollywood, World War II, and intergenerational family stories with a vibrant historical atmosphere.

This was my first Anthony Mara but will NOT be my last because the writing is what made this book absolutely spectacular. I read this awhile ago and forgot to come here and leave a review. While I don't remember the plot, I remember the writing being near perfection.

Okay, I actually read this a couple weeks ago. But I’ve gotten a few requests to share my thoughts here, and I’m really glad to do so because, readers, I adored this book. I’ve read one other work by Marra (The Tsar of Love and Techno) so I was very eager to pick up his newest novel, and it did not disappoint. This chunky novel is a compulsively readable story filled with rich historical detail and thoughtful commentary. The book opens on Artie and Maria, a movie executive and his right-hand woman trying to keep the flailing Mercury Pictures International afloat as the world descends into World War II. Marra takes us from Mussolini’s Italy to 1940s Hollywood with a tightly interconnected core cast of flawed, but lovable characters. This isn’t an “issues book” but through the rich tapestry of the story Marra offers commentary on propaganda, American identity, and the mid-century immigrant experience. The writing absolutely sparkles with wit and detail, cementing Marra as one of my favorite writers working today.

"Mercury Pictures Presents" by Anthony Marra is an expansive novel focusing on Italy and the U.S. leading up to and during World War II. A gifted writer, Marra writes with such prose it flows like poetry, intermingled with humor.

Wielding too much narrative taking too much effort to focus, the plot was numbing with too many characters and not enough care about them. I wanted to love this one. I really did. When I find myself skimming pages, and not missing anything of importance, I know that a book just isn’t for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth/Random House for this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

So many good stories or possible movie scripts in Anthony Mara’s Mercury Pictures Presents. I liked the premise in the story but it became confusing with so many characters and the back and forth between time periods. I thought Maria’s story definitely portrayed job inequity in her job as “an associate producer.” My favorite characters were Anna, the miniaturist, and Lewis Harrington. This reader found herself in tears reading about Lewis and his struggles entering the service as a black man and how long he spent in jail.

Courtesy of Random House Publishers and Netgalley, I was fortunate to to receive the ARC of Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra. I was immediately drawn in to this well researched historical novel, transported to WWII Italy and Los Angeles, while savouring the most beautiful descriptions and phrases. Anthony Marra is truly a wordsmith! The characters seemed authentic as their poignant stories were revealed, sometimes sad, sometimes humorous, always compelling, as they reinvented themselves. I was holding my breath awaiting the outcomes of various scenarios. I loved this book!

I almost quit this book a few times. Kept wondering where this story was going. Way too much descriptive language. After a while, I was skipping whole paragraphs at a time. It wasn't until the last 1/3 of the book that I actually started to really enjoy it. It was a good story, but so much could have been left out to make it a great story.

Marra took me on one emotional rollercoaster, successfully bringing me to tears several times. It’s been a very long time since a novel has managed to pull me in so deeply, leaving me reflective and sentimental. All my compassion was poured into the characters, I was depleted after I finished this masterpiece. I will be haunted by these characters eternally - signs of a gifted writer.

The writing is unmistakably ineffable. The historical aspects were educational and well-researched. Characters Maria, Anna and Vincent hold your level of compassion hostage. Their struggle with guilt and forgiveness broke my heart. The poise and fortitude they demonstrated to move on were inspiring.

Fans of Marra, historical fiction as well as those interested in WWII will truly find satisfaction in Marra’s creativity, alluring writing matched with fascinating characters. To fully acknowledge Marra’s achievement savor slowly, certainly not a novel to race through, the reader will miss far too much. A painfully beautiful accomplishment Marra crafted with complexity and refinement.