Mercury Pictures Presents

A Novel

By: Anthony Marra

Narrated by: Carlotta Brentan

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Winner of the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction • The epic tale of a brilliant woman who must reinvent herself to survive, moving from Mussolini’s Italy to 1940s Los Angeles—a timeless story of love, deceit, and sacrifice from the award-winning author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

“A genuinely moving and life-affirming novel that’s a true joy to read.”—Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere

“A gorgeous book . . . sublime.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, The Guardian, Booklist

Like many before her, Maria Lagana has come to Hollywood to outrun her past. Born in Rome, where every Sunday her father took her to the cinema instead of church, Maria immigrates with her mother to Los Angeles after a childhood transgression leads to her father’s arrest.

Fifteen years later, on the eve of America’s entry into World War II, Maria is an associate producer at Mercury Pictures, trying to keep her personal and professional lives from falling apart. Her mother won’t speak to her. Her boss, a man of many toupees, has been summoned to Washington by congressional investigators. Her boyfriend, a virtuoso Chinese American actor, can’t escape the studio’s narrow typecasting. And the studio itself, Maria’s only home in exile, teeters on the verge of bankruptcy.

Over the coming months, as the bright lights go dark across Los Angeles, Mercury Pictures becomes a nexus of European émigrés: modernist poets trying their luck as B-movie screenwriters, once-celebrated architects becoming scale-model miniaturists, and refugee actors finding work playing the very villains they fled. While the world descends into war, Maria rises through a maze of conflicting politics, divided loyalties, and jockeying ambitions. But when the arrival of a stranger from her father’s past threatens Maria’s carefully constructed facade, she must finally confront her father’s fate—and her own.

Written with intelligence, wit, and an exhilarating sense of possibility, Mercury Pictures Presents spans many moods and tones, from the heartbreaking to the ecstatic. It is a love letter to life’s bit players, a panorama of an era that casts a long shadow over our own, and a tour de force by a novelist whose work The Washington Post calls “a flash in the heavens that makes you look up and believe in miracles.”

©2022 Anthony Marra (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“With Mercury Pictures Presents [Marra] cements himself as one of the most deft and most enjoyable novelists working today. . . . I could go on for pages about my admiration for Marra’s technique and execution . . . but what I most recall is the general warmth of feeling every time I . . . spent time in that world.”—Chicago Tribune

“Epically entertaining . . . You’ll laugh, you’ll cry in the marvelous Mercury Pictures Presents.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“So much old-time snappy wit that Mercury Pictures Presents should come with popcorn and a 78-ounce Coke.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

Interesting story. overall, I enjoyed it

I *read* this for book club. I thought this was going to be a whimsical farce on Old Hollywood, instead it is a whimsical farce on Old Fascism. I enjoyed it. I recommend it.

Potentially great Story poorly read

While an aspect of the history of Hollywood is always interesting. I really disliked the narrators voice with poor accents. She was not able to convincingly create male voices. I found her voice distracting from the story. I could not finish the book through audible because of the poor performance.

Amazing Epic Story

Love how the story ebbs between the characters and their connections. Such a beautifully and intelligently written novel that I will recommend to everyone I talk to.

Engaging and funny

I am not a “Hollywood fan” and I wondered if I would even like this book enough to finish it, but it truly amused me. Great characters, surprising word choice at times, a plot that continued to surprise.

A Near Miss

Marra delivers some decent prose and lively characters, but Mercury Pictures Presents ultimately tries too hard to be meaningful and flies a little too close to the sun. In trying to be deep and profound on practically every page, it ironically comes off as unconvincing and unreal. The dialogue is forced and artificially weighty, the commentary is heavy handed and self-important. If Marra had the gift of subtlety and the ability to guide you to his points through more veiled dialogue and a more natural commentary, this really could have been something.

Fabulously complex story

It’s a little hard to keep all the characters straight in an audio format but the skilled narrator helps, managing to make dozens of characters from different countries distinct. This is another beautifully woven story by Anthony Marra.

Good book. Narration had a major flaw.

The narrator has a good and expressive voice, but a terrible Italian accent. Unfortunately, the Italian characters dominated the first half of the book and continued throughout the whole book. It was painful to listen to.

Good historical story

Enjoyed the story of the struggles people had during WW2 and how they overcome. So many talented individuals who contributed to the growth of Hollywood

Stayed on my mind

I got diverted halfway through the book and did not come back to it for several months. I’m very glad I did. These are various sets of characters’ stories in a place in time beautifully woven together. For me, the narration was excellent and a strong part of the blend. I like books with endings and loose threads addressed, if not tied up. Anthony Marra ( who I had not previously read) did that, using almost lyrical language in spot- on descriptions and observations. Although I’m not the type of reader who goes back to fact check, I’d say this is history done well.
Thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have pretty much listened twice, once in trying to get reacclimated, and then for the sheer pleasure of digging deeper.

Do yourself a favor and read this book!

Loved it- playfulness of language and story! Such an exquisite use of lthe English anguage!