Beautiful Ruins
by Jess Walter
Buy on AmazonBeautiful Ruins is a 2012 bestselling novel by Jess Walter. It is his sixth novel. The novel is a social satire critiquing Hollywood culture. Though not the explicit focus of the novel, receiving very little direct appearances in the novel, the characters' lives revolve around Elizabeth Taylor and her role in the movie Cleopatra, and the subsequent love affair between Taylor and Richard Burton.
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"Here’s a funny bit from Jess Walter’s novel “Beautiful Ruins,” another book I have been telling friends to read."
By the Book: Francine Prose · nytimes.com
"Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter. His mastery of the different voices of his characters is quite extraordinary."
By the Book: Jane Goodall · nytimes.com
"I just finished “Beautiful Ruins,” by Jess Walter, and “Dear Life,” by Alice Munro, both of which I loved."
By the Book: Sue Monk Kidd · nytimes.com