Hot Pants in Hollywood

Behind every person is a life full of experiences, tricks of a trade, and a mark to leave behind. Hot Pants in Hollywood: Sex, Secrets & Sitcoms by Susan Silver is a wonderful look into the life of a female writer who, having lived in Los Angeles and New York, became an extra during her college years, wrote scripts for television shows, enjoyed the perks that came with her work, and met many famous people and big names in the alluring industry that is showbiz.

Perchance embarrassing to the author but undoubtedly rib-tickling to read, the opening incident ends with the author audibly repeating the word “vibrator” in an emergency room, asking herself how she got to that blue point in the year 2012. Following are Susan’s years of “Growing Up,” “College Years,” “Fabulous Firsts,” and every subsequent noteworthy stage of her life. Susan had put in the work that led to her various successes in the world of showbiz, but, laughably, she made some bad choices. Because while she writes about amusing incidents involving names such as Tom Jones, Clint Eastwood, and iconic figures in America’s political landscape like Bill Clinton, the author made some bad choices in her romantic life as well.

I would say that the first couple of chapters are filled with laughs while the middle part becomes much more serious. Knowingly or unknowingly, Susan might’ve found a way to cleverly illustrate herself as more “grown up”–a term I use here simply to avoid saying “more boring” or “more serious”–person in the later chapters when she eventually reaches the age of “between fifty and death.” Honestly, I can find the tips that the author provides for writers who struggle with a blank page on a thousand different blogs on writing, so there’s nothing new to learn there, but when it came to author’s own writing experiences in the industries she dabbled in, I found myself immersed and in dire want of a pen and a page to take down notes.

All laughs and writing experiences aside, the author shows how all lives, whether one concludes it with marriage and kids or not, can be meaningful, impactful, and filled with love in a writing voice that is pleasantly conversational. This memoir, however, is not a tutorial in its natural sense but a guide to learn from the author’s mistakes. Bask in the funniness and the author’s stubborn rebellion against the norm. Discover what it means to do what you love but also what you don’t. A great story to inspire the lazy, the talented, the love deprived, and all children in grown-up shoes.