Ritz Harper Goes to Hollywood!
By Wendy Williams with Zondra Hughes
Reviewed by A. Jarrell Hayes
One’s force of will can lead them to do phenomenal feats. Strength is a great attribute to possess when overcoming obstacles and hardships. But flaunted strength does invite more hardships. A hook from a P. Diddy classic goes "the more money we come across/the more problems we see" and it is a true saying indeed.
Ritz Harper, alter ego of real-life author and radio and TV personality Wendy Williams, is a tough Black woman who, in previous novels, has risen to great stardom through her no nonsense and outlandish approach to celebrity gossip. She takes no prisoners, speaks her mind without regard to the feelings of others, and lets nothing get in her way. In the newest Harper novel, Ritz Harper Goes to Hollywood!, she -- as the title implies -- takes her act from the Big Apple to Tinsel Town.
After taking a hiatus from her top-rated radio show in New York to deal with some very traumatic personal issues, Ritz comes out of hiding with a new sense of purpose and definition of success. She's the type of woman that wants everything: the finest clothes, the snazziest shoes, and the biggest jewelry. Everything about her is ostentatious, from her designer shades and breast implants to her personality and attitude. Her idea of success mirrors that of the Drake song "Successful." She wants a bigger piece of the entertainment pie, and believes her persona is bigger than radio -- it belongs on television.
Ritz sets out on her quest to conquer Hollywood with her long-time radio producer Chas. Chas has some connections in Hollywood and is able to get Ritz a meeting with one of the biggest and most ruthless television executives out there on the fly. Harper is big news on the radio and in New York, but out on the West Coast she is little more than a blimp on the map -- and the television powers-that-be she meets throws that in her face every chance they get.
Humility is a word not in Ritz's dictionary -- she doesn't know the meaning of the word. She can go only at one speed: full throttle. Outside her comfort zone, Ritz comes into Hollywood almost begging for a show. After a run-in with a racist Hollywood heavy-hitter with a slave girl fetish -- who, in the middle of a racist rant, drops some knowledge of true wealth not residing in the fanciest clothes but in the businesses, assets, property, and people you control (which is reminiscent of the Capitalist Nigger mindset) -- she gains the resolve not to continue begging for Hollywood scraps but to demand a seat at the table as an equal.
Whether you're rooting for Ritz to succeed or fail, she keeps readers interested because she's such a polarizing character. You either love her or hate her. She's not the perfect heroine and does some pretty low-down cruddy sh--. Even with all the troubles her superiority complex and attitude brings her way -- like rappers she put on blast being on the down-low out to get her -- she doesn't feel like she needs to tone it down a little. At the end of the novel you wonder if Ritz actually learned anything from her ordeals -- and you begin to wonder the same about your experience with the book, though it is intensely entertaining.
"A. Jarrell Hayes is the Black Urban Times' book review editor, as well as an author, poet, and blogger in the Baltimore area. More on A. Jarrell Hayes."
Ritz Harper, alter ego of real-life author and radio and TV personality Wendy Williams, is a tough Black woman who, in previous novels, has risen to great stardom through her no nonsense and outlandish approach to celebrity gossip. She takes no prisoners, speaks her mind without regard to the feelings of others, and lets nothing get in her way. In the newest Harper novel, Ritz Harper Goes to Hollywood!, she -- as the title implies -- takes her act from the Big Apple to Tinsel Town.
After taking a hiatus from her top-rated radio show in New York to deal with some very traumatic personal issues, Ritz comes out of hiding with a new sense of purpose and definition of success. She's the type of woman that wants everything: the finest clothes, the snazziest shoes, and the biggest jewelry. Everything about her is ostentatious, from her designer shades and breast implants to her personality and attitude. Her idea of success mirrors that of the Drake song "Successful." She wants a bigger piece of the entertainment pie, and believes her persona is bigger than radio -- it belongs on television.
Ritz sets out on her quest to conquer Hollywood with her long-time radio producer Chas. Chas has some connections in Hollywood and is able to get Ritz a meeting with one of the biggest and most ruthless television executives out there on the fly. Harper is big news on the radio and in New York, but out on the West Coast she is little more than a blimp on the map -- and the television powers-that-be she meets throws that in her face every chance they get.
Humility is a word not in Ritz's dictionary -- she doesn't know the meaning of the word. She can go only at one speed: full throttle. Outside her comfort zone, Ritz comes into Hollywood almost begging for a show. After a run-in with a racist Hollywood heavy-hitter with a slave girl fetish -- who, in the middle of a racist rant, drops some knowledge of true wealth not residing in the fanciest clothes but in the businesses, assets, property, and people you control (which is reminiscent of the Capitalist Nigger mindset) -- she gains the resolve not to continue begging for Hollywood scraps but to demand a seat at the table as an equal.
Whether you're rooting for Ritz to succeed or fail, she keeps readers interested because she's such a polarizing character. You either love her or hate her. She's not the perfect heroine and does some pretty low-down cruddy sh--. Even with all the troubles her superiority complex and attitude brings her way -- like rappers she put on blast being on the down-low out to get her -- she doesn't feel like she needs to tone it down a little. At the end of the novel you wonder if Ritz actually learned anything from her ordeals -- and you begin to wonder the same about your experience with the book, though it is intensely entertaining.
"A. Jarrell Hayes is the Black Urban Times' book review editor, as well as an author, poet, and blogger in the Baltimore area. More on A. Jarrell Hayes."
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