Tom Lynch

Liza Normal gets embarrassed a lot. As a pubescent teen wanting only to be rich and famous, she belts out anthems at auditions with great confidence, but minimal talent. The world around her is merely background. Wilson's "Colors Insulting to Nature," a biting, raucous take on celebrity and the galaxy of fame, turns out to be a strange coming-of-age story in the end, but not without a few shots to the Hollywood kidneys along the way. Wilson, the New York City native and Salon.com columnist, tries her hand at all trades: she's an award-winning playwright and screenwriter, her work has appeared in Rolling Stone and Esquire, and she created the long-running MTV "Liquid Television" staple, "Winter Steele." The culture of celebrity is unlike any other--nothing else is envied, loathed, and loved to such a degree simultaneously. Wilson may hate it enough to brutalize it, but the book shows she loves it a little bit too.

Cintra Wilson reads from "Colors Insulting to Nature" on September 13 at Barbara's Bookstore, 1218 South Halsted, (312)413-2665, at 7:30pm. Free.

(2004-09-08)

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