My Face for the World to See by Alfred Hayes  (New York Review of Books, 2012)

 

A short, intense, dark, and brilliant novel about Hollywood in the 50s.  A jaded and cynical screenwriter from New York leaves his wife and daughter behind to make money in Hollywood and enjoy a bachelor's life.  At a party one evening he rescues a girl from drowning in the ocean and begins an affair with her.  She surprises him by her depth of character, intelligence, and sensitivity and he becomes aware of her troubled past and fragile present.  When his wife announces that she is relocating to join him in California, he leaves the girl in what must be one of the most harrowing break-up scenes in literary history.  Hayes' writing is clear and clean and interesting, but not self-conscious.  He tells this simple story with a propulsive straight-forwardness, in short, intense chapters that focus on dramatic scenes and moments.  An intelligent and engaging and original book -- I enjoyed reading it very much, and look forward to reading other books by Hayes.