‘PRIME TIME’ BY JOAN COLLINS

When Joan Collins decided to put out this fiction number in the late ‘80s I remember thinking, oh here we go, another actress who thinks she can write, forgetting that she had already proven her skills with a few highly successful autobiographies a decade or so earlier. Furthermore, to me, moving into her sister’s established turf seemed, well, very shady. Remember, I had been (and still am) a die-hard Jackie Collins fan and I just couldn’t see anyone else doing it just as well, even if it’s her wildly successful sibling. But curiosity won me over and I just had to take at least a peek. Turns out I did more than that, finishing the novel in a record time. Now, was this title just as good as a Jackie Collins novel? Read on.

The thing about PRIME TIME (Pocket) is that you have to avoid comparing it to any other work to truly enjoy it, and I did enjoy it, make no mistake about that. It may not be the sharpest book to come out but, boy, it sure is one of the sleaziest. And I say that with all the genuine love I have for this type of efforts, because what we have here is a fun, no holds bar romp of the rich and the rotten that highly deserves the accolades from seekers of trash fiction. It sorts of remind me of THE DEBUTANTES by June Flaum Singer which reached the top of the best-seller list in 1982 despite being considered unreadable by many insiders. Both narratives have little substance but a whole lot of scandals to compensate.

In a nutshell PRIME TIME centers around five women who vow for a spot on a top-rated TV series à la Dynasty. There are many secrets and sins already attached to their names and half the fun is trying to figure out who will eventually overcome them to win the coveted part as, what else, the wife of a business tycoon. The other half is trying not to smirk too much at all of the silliness of the bed-hopping, demoralized urgings, crazy antics that fill the pages of this juicy best-seller.

Not once did I find the book boring and say what you want, Joan Collins is a great storyteller. She may not have the opus operandi of say, her dear departed sister, but boy does she know how to make a scene sparkle. The last time I uttered those exact words were in reference to Jacqueline Susann’s body of work. Not too shabby a compliment, if I may say so myself. 

Collins has written many other novels since PRIME TIME. All have been international best-sellers. If you want a go at them you can easily use a Kindle or a Kobo. As for I, I will stick with my physical paperbacks and hardbacks ‘cause, hey, that’s the kind of crazy dude that I am. 

Until next post—Martin