Big Red
A Novel Starring Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles
by Jerome Charyn
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Pub Date Aug 23 2022 | Archive Date Jul 31 2022
W. W. Norton & Company | Liveright
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Description
Narrated by a starry-eyed lesbian, Big Red reimagines the tragic career of Rita Hayworth and her indomitable husband, Orson Welles.
Set amidst the noir glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Big Red re-envisions the life of one of America’s most enduring icons: Gilda herself, Rita Hayworth, whose fiery red hair and hypnotic dancing helped make her the quintessential movie star of the 1940s.
With narrator Rusty Redburn—a feisty second-string gossip columnist from Kalamazoo tasked with spying on Hayworth by Columbia movie mogul Harry “The Janitor” Cohn—as our guide, we follow the meteoric rise and heartrending demise of the actress, encountering her exploitative father, Eduardo; her controlling husband, “boy genius” Orson Welles; and notorious journalist Louella Parsons, among many others.
Mixing his trademark screwball comedy and unerring tragedy, Jerome Charyn, with his “polymorphous imagination” (Jonathan Lethem) reanimates film classics such as Cover Girl, Gilda, and The Lady from Shanghai. An insightful, tender portrait of a seemingly halcyon age before blockbusters and film franchises, Big Red promises to consume both Hollywood cinephiles and neophytes alike.
"One of the most important writers in American literature" (Michael Chabon), Jerome Charyn is the award-winning author of more than fifty works, including The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson. A renowned scholar of twentieth-century Hollywood, he lives in Manhattan.
Advance Praise
“Jerome Charyn’s movie-love dances like a flame over every page of Big Red. Like its gloriously outspoken narrator—who never existed but should have—the book is bewitched by cinema and also hard-headed about the crass, exploitative reality of the dream factory. It’s a dazzling romp through old Hollywood, and a fiercely loving effort to set the record straight.” —Sara Imogen Smith, film critic and author of In Lonely Places
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781324091332 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Ira S, Reviewer
Orson Welles, one of my favorite directors. Rita Hayworth, immortalized in her role as Gilda. Hollywood’s “Golden. Age”. All these elements are brought together into one of my favorite novels of the year, Big Red, by Jerome Charyn.
Rusty Redburn is our guide to the world of Hollywood in the 40s and 50s. We first meet her working in Harry Cohn’s studio as a digger, someone hired to dig up dirt on other studios, directors and stars. She’s so good at her job that she’s hired by Cohn to become Rita Hayworth’s personal secretary so as to “spy” on her. At the time, Hayworth was living with Orson Welles and was soon to become his second wife. Through Rusty’s eyes, and Charyn’s superb narration, we live the story of Welles’ and Hayworth’s relationship, the creation of her memorable films, and witness her rise and eventual decline of America’s “love goddess”. There’s so much information about both Hayworth and Welles packed into the narrative, especially Hayworth’s childhood and that she was abused by her father. Yet this information is presented so incredibly well in the story that it’s never a distraction.
Another part of the story is the way the studio system of the time functioned. It’s not presented in a good light at all. The studio moguls are misogynistic, and truly despicable. They couldn’t understand Welles’ unorthodox style of moviemaking.
Rusty, our heroine, if you will, is quite memorable. Charyn really brings her to life. Even though she’s a completely fictional character, she’s so seamlessly placed in the novel that I had to keep remembering she’s a fictional character.
I just loved Big Red. I couldn’t put it down, and I highly recommend the book.
My thanks to W. W. Norton and Comapny, and to Netgalley, for an ARC of Big Red.
Steph E, Reviewer
Big Red is such a great story. Well-written and fascinating. Rusty Redburn runs a small movie house and also works the lots for Harry Cohn a big-time guy in Hollywood. There she meets all kinds of stars, some good, some bad. Her favorites Orson Welles and Rita H. hire her as a secretary and she is witness to the crazy inner workings of Welles and crew. From the always helpful valet Shorty to Orson himself, this story is filled with larger-than-life characters and crazy tales. I loved it and found myself reading the Orson parts in his voice. The Errol Flynn yacht stuff was crazy fun. If this is what Hollywood was even a little bit like I want to read more. This author has such a fantastic writing style, I loved it.
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