Remembrance of beautiful ruins

Starting to re-read Jess Walter's beautiful ruins for tonight's book group and finding it again very funny and imaginative and well paced full of rich characters lively dialogue lots of activity and a surprising depth of feeling. Granted some of Walter's targets are pretty easy ie Hollywood and drunken movie stars but he (I just learned he is a he I thought first reading thru the author was a woman - shows that in some ways and some novels gender doesn't matter at all - do we ever really care about the gender of a film director?) the early scenes about the perfect Hollywood pitch and about a movie called Donner! Are particularly funny. Let me try by memory to recall the plot: American actress in cleopatra dee moray stays at small Italian hotel of Pasquale. Years later p come to la to find her again goes to office of old producer michael Deanne where meets assistant Claire and aspiring writer Shane there to pitch Donner. Shane becomes interpreter. They all join Deanne in tracking down long lost dee who we learn has been amateur acting in us - had an affair w Richard burton on Cleo set and her son now failed singer comedian she is dying of ca. She had also married yah failed america writer who used to stay at Pasquale 's hotel the adequate view hotel hah! He never finished his novel wrote one great chapter about encounter w beautiful girl whom he later tries to fine turns out she is now a prostitute refuses to acknowledge him dee tells him wisely maybe he has only one story to tell. He dies in car crash. Pasquale realizes he has much in common w dee and goes to Florence where his girlfriend lives w their child whom all preten I'd her young sibling Pasquale boldly demands she marry him and family acknowledge truth and accept him which they do. But he always yearns for the love of his life. Part of the beauty of this novel is that the elements all are there for a romantic melodrama but Walter never gives in and the story remains clear and unsentimental.