Overview

Elizabeth ""Liza Jane"" Sydney, a beloved, old-school Movie Star, is used to getting what she wants. Her film career took off in the Golden Age of Hollywood and barely survived Sen. Joe McCarthy's infamous Red Scare hunt for Communists. Some of her costars and writer friends weren't so lucky. Now in her 80s, Liza Jane's a legend. But even legends eventually pass. She has a plan for that, too. Her will stipulates she must be buried in the oak grove in her backyard, local ordinances be damned. When she dies shortly after signing, a volatile assortment of industry friends, family, former lovers, rivals, charitable beneficiaries, and paparazzi descend. Some of Liza Jane's friends fight to uphold her wishes. Others try to break the will. And as her past is told in alternating chapters, her eccentric last wishes make sense. It's a timely tale of betrayals of friends by friends - including the worst one of all: by their country's own government.

Full Product Details

9781950668366

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Filled with thought-provoking revelations and moments of discovery, Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been? is highly recommended as a starting point for discussions about friendship and betrayal, freedom and repression, and the impact of political and social decision-making on generations mired in a Gordian Knot of complexity and outcomes."" - Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review ""Cockrell's unerring sense of time and place allows her to present California without cliché, then and now, as she shifts between past and present time. A mesmerizing read."" -Lee Smith, author of Fair and Tender Ladies, On Agate Hill, Saving Grace ""Stunned me like a dove-disappearing magician . . ., as fun to read as the numbers on a lottery ticket that wins. Don't miss it."" -- Peter Coyote, author of Sleeping Where I Fall, The Rainman's Third Cure and others.

Author Information

Amanda Cockrell, the daughter of screenwriters who lived through the blacklist, is former director of the MFA program in children's and young adult literature at Hollins University. Her previous novels include Coyote Weather, What We Keep Is Not Always What Will Stay, the Deer Dancers trilogy and the Horse Catchers trilogy. She has received fellowships in fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Visit her at www.amandacockrell.com

Tab Content 6

Countries Available