Silver Lake

Told in the classic three-act structure of a Hollywood movie, Silver Lake is the third installment in a series of novels about the character Aubrey McKee. Alex Pugsley’s latest is set in Toronto and Silver Lake, a trendy neighborhood in east central Los Angeles. It details Aubrey’s journey from unemployed broken-hearted schlub to B-movie production assistant, to comedy writer and science-fiction screenwriter, and all the way up to feature film director. Along the way, he encounters long-ago Halifax friends, manic movie producers, NHL players turned talk show hosts, wilding Victoria’s Secret models, impulsive movie stars . . . and his own rising destiny. A narrative-driven book, full of larger-than-life (but fully real) characters, told in vivid scenes, Silver Lake shimmers in and out of themes of comedy, romance, identity, and aspiration.