In Gary Goldstein’s new book, “The Last Birthday Party,” Jeremy Lerner turns 50, and it all goes downhill from there. Or does it? We asked Goldstein, an accomplished and prolific screenwriter and journalist, to talk about the book — his debut novel — ahead of his virtual appearance with Warwick’s this Wednesday, Aug. 18.
Q: Your main character — film critic Jeremy Lerner — just turned 50, and it seems like it’s not the milestone birthday that it ought to be. Where did you find the inspiration for Jeremy? Is there a little bit of Gary Goldstein in Jeremy Lerner?
A: There’s definitely a bit of me in Jeremy: We both live in L.A.’s Laurel Canyon, we both review films and write screenplays, and we both had terrible rotator cuff tears that landed us in giant abduction braces. But the way we approach life is pretty different, our marital relationships couldn’t be less alike, and I, for one, had a wonderful 50th birthday party. Still, we probably have similar senses of humor and ways of observing things. I guess like all the characters here, Jeremy’s an amalgam of many people I’ve known — including myself.
Q: But it’s not all doom and gloom for Jeremy. Without giving away the ending, what saves him in the end?
A: The trifecta of calamities that hit him at the start, in their own strange way, save him in the end. They force him to wake up, open up to change and risk, and learn to love again. He’s a good guy who didn’t know that he was lost and needed to be found. And even though he learns that lesson the hard way, it pays off in ways he — and I hope the reader — doesn’t see coming.
Q: Besides being a journalist, you’re also a screenwriter — did that combination of experiences help or hinder the writing process here?
A: Totally helped. The tightness and clarity of journalism, added to my background creating original characters, dialogue and story in screenwriting, made novel writing feel like a pretty natural segue. But with a novel there’s more room to expand the way you tell a story, the freedom to go off a bit more. There’s also much more description needed in a book than a screenplay; the author has to be “the camera.” In addition, I gave Jeremy a pretty vivid internal life that might be more “seen than heard” in a screenplay. Process-wise, it helped, too, that I’ve adapted a number of (other writers’) novels into screenplays.
Q: Since you have a lot of movie rom-coms under your belt, if this were to be a film, who would be your “bucket list” romantic leads?
A: Great question! There are so many actors I love that are around Jeremy and Annabelle’s age, but ideally … maybe Jason Bateman and Amy Adams? Or Paul Rudd and Jennifer Garner? I should be so lucky.
Q: Speaking of rom-coms, there’s always a dog in them. Is there one in this book?
A: Y’know, what? There is. Jeremy’s neighbors, Katie and Crash, have a loopy yellow Lab named Lola who shows up now and then. I would have given Jeremy a dog, but he’s got enough on his plate. If there’s a sequel, he’ll definitely have one!
“The Last Birthday Party” by Gary Goldstein (Hadleigh House LLC, 2021; 288 pages)
Warwick’s presents Gary Goldstein
When: 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18
Where: Virtual event through Warwick’s
Tickets: Free
Online: warwicks.com
