The plot unthickens - Jess Walters's sprawling novel Beautiful Ruins

The "pitch" in Jess Walters's novel Beautiful Ruins  is very funny and has potential for further comic developments; as noted in previous posts, we go through many plot elements of this sprawling but enticing novel before we come to the pitch: Shane has been en route to pitch his movie idea to script reader Claire and he, they, get waylaid by the other half of the plot - a sudden visit from Pasquale, seeking to reunite with the American actress, Dee, whom he'd fallen in love with 50 years ago. Finally, Shane, who had been captured into helping out with some rough Italian translation so that director Deane can communicate with Pasquale about the woman they'd both loved (and evidently lost - lost sight of) makes the pitch for an epic adventure about the Donner Party. The funny thing is that his narration of the story is pretty compelling, but then you step back and say, seriously, an epic movie about cannibalism and survival? (We won't show the cannibalism!, Shane protests.) Of course Claire has the same reaction we do - this is the most ludicrous proposal she's ever heard, ludicrous in part because it's actually a good pitch, but about a horrible idea; Deane, to her surprise, however, options the script right on the spot - though it's immediately obvious to her and to us that he does so to keep Shane on hand to help him out with managing Pasquale. The comic potential is: what's going to happen to the script? Does Deane make it even worse - a zombie version of the Donner Party perhaps? A Donner reality show? And is it a success in spite of, or because of, its loopiness - a la Springtime for Hitler? In her peripatetic fashion, however, Walters does not pick up on this theme or at least not yet - as she takes us on another trip back to Italy 1962 when P. finally tracks down Deane and give him hell about abandoning Dee, and Deane pays him off if he'll get her to a Swiss abortionist. We learn - Deane learns from P - that she gave birth to a son - and then we jump to yet another plot element as we meet the wayward son, now a 45ish failed NW musician drifter. And we are soon to meet him mom, I'm sure.