Yup another lovely, trashy novel from my youth. And come to think of it…Personal Effects might have been a Cosmo magazine novel excerpt just like the laughable Palm Beach. But Personal Effects would have been a sure read for my teen self with or without the Helen Gurley Brown seal of approval.

Because Rex Reed writing a Hollywood novel is dynamite. Yes, THAT Rex Reed. The twinkling, boyish handsome critic who starred in Myra Breckinridge.

Now don’t get too excited. Personal Effects follows the tried and true formula of four friends (The Four Fans) who meet at school and their lives intertwine forever and a day. Only the twist is one of the friends is…a boy…and they’re united by not only school but the glamorous red-haired film star Gilda Greenway. Gilda’s a film star who reminds you of turns of Rita Hayworth, Betty Grable, Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Linda Darnell and Ginger Rogers. Her trademark is a string of pearls. The Four Fans (chubby neglected May, sexpot Inez, waif Devon and sexy King) become her “children”.

But not to worry, Personal Effects isn’t a ode to maternity. It’s the story of Gilda’s rise from little girl from Back Water to international film star with lovers, drink and scandals aplenty. It’s the Inez/King/Devon triangle (will King give up the oozing sex from every pore Inez for his soul mate Devon?). It’s May managing to push aside her privileged but neglected background to become a top Hollywood agent with a young devoted lover.

And there’s the movies. Oh golly is there the movies. All Rex Reed’s years in the film business have gone into the page. There is the realness that the outsider can’t replicate. So even though at times you roll your eyes over the over the top Inez, want to shake Devon until her teeth rattle and smack King and May upside their heads, Personal Effects is a great read for a snowed in night.