A caper novel that also spoofs reality TV?
Donald E. Westlake was a genius. Not only did he write great fiction, he also was a keen cultural observer. He was so good at the latter he could expose fads for what they were via dryly satirizing them.
Such was the case in his novel Get Real. Among the last to be published before his death, this caper novel is the last volume in the Dortmunder series. These Westlake novels follow the adventures (and misadventures) of New York City career thief John Dortmunder and his eclectic (but skilled) gang.
The cultural fad Westlake satires in Get Real's pages is reality TV. Dortmunder is approached by a reality TV producer looking for a new subject for a show. His last one, about a produce stand run by a farm family ("The Stand") has folded. Now he wants to do one about Dortmunder's gang!
The producer uses devices like scripted lines, hired actors and actresses, and even set plot lines! For example, during the run of "The Stand" he had planned on having an actress marry the family's son as a season finale. They would then promptly get an annulment once the show aired, but the actress was not the son's type; and the show's cancellation made it a moot point.
So Mr. Producer saddles Dortmunder's gang with the actress and an actor as part of their team. Dortmunder and his group regularly meet in the back room of a bar. In the show about them (which never airs due to it being cancelled), they meet in a replica built on a studio set.
TV can be sculpted and arranged to fit the needs of the medium, especially reality TV. Westlake knew this, and so stuck his satirical blade into its guts via the reality TV plot twist in Dortmunder's last caper. He did such a good job one fan who read it said it made him want to avoid reality TV! It made me want to do so too, but it also made me crave another Dortmunder novel.
Image courtesy Hennepin County Library.