Word: clef
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...tawdry roman à clef aspects aside, W.E.B. is not without its amusingly smarmy moments. This show's view of the industry is even more vicious than Network 's. According to Bolen, TV is run by sex-crazed, alcoholic, pill-popping men whose contempt for the public is exceeded only by their contempt for each other. "Television is a monster that never stops eating," explains one of them. True enough, but W.E.B. gives viewers that rare opportunity to watch television throw...
...does own an orchestra, in this case the 105-member Pittsburgh Symphony, which sits center stage and follows his every command. His lunacy determines even the title of the play: "Every good boy deserves favor" is a mnemonic phrase to help music students remember the notes on a treble clef staff...
...knack for livery yarning and his ability for introspection give the book its special quality: a fat, comercial novel with a lean, serious writer signaling wildly to get out. Insiders in Las Vegas and Hollywood may be doing some wild signaling themselves. The novel has an enticing roman à clef flavor even though Puzo dismisses the issue with a typically tough and ready remark: "How dare they think they are part of my creation?" Nevertheless, Pauline Kael will be flattered when she recognizes herself as the highly praised film critic Clara Ford. Certain agents, and some executives at Universal...
...that Giovannetti is, or ever was, a spy. Nevertheless, the monsignor readily admits that Requiem for a Spy, which he describes as "part autobiographical" and "part political fantasy," is a roman à clef based on his long experience and his personal acquaintance with a number of spies he has known, if not always loved. "I knew all the spies in the U.N. organization itself, but they were not up to much," he says. "The big spies are in the various delegations. In any case the book is not based on any particular episode, and there is no real model...
...other since student days at U.C.L.A., are both now serving prison terms for their part in the Watergate coverup. Since Haldeman's new book, The Ends of Power, blames Nixon for both launching and covering up Watergate, TIME asked Ehrlichman, himself the author of the highly successful roman a clef, The Company, to review Haldeman's effort. Ehrlichman's critique...