Человек, который умер смеясь

Pisatelʹ Sti͡uart Khog, eshche nedavno kupavshiĭsi͡a v luchakh slavy blagodari͡a shumnomu uspekhu svoego debi͡utnogo romana, perezhivaet tvorcheskiĭ zastoĭ. Gonorary issi͡akli, druzʹi͡a razbezhalisʹ, ostalisʹ lishʹ kapriznai͡a sobaka Lulu da professionalʹnai͡a gordostʹ. No sudʹba gotovit Sti͡uartu novoe ispytanie, kogda starei͡ushchiĭ komik Sanni Dėĭ, byvshiĭ korolʹ ėkst͡sentricheskoĭ komedii, predlagaet emu statʹ… literaturnym rabom! Nastupiv sebe na gorlo, Khog soglashaetsi͡a napisatʹ za Sanni ego memuary i s golovoĭ pogruzhaetsi͡a v mir Gollivuda 1940-50-kh godov s ego bleskom, shalʹnymi denʹgami i ne menee shalʹnym obrazom zhizni. Odnako kto-to ochenʹ ne khochet, chtoby memuary uvideli svet, i staratelʹno zapugivaet Sti͡uarta i Dėi͡a. Pytai͡asʹ dokopatʹsi͡a do istiny, Sti͡uart nevolʹno okazyvaetsi͡a v samom t͡sentre opasnoĭ intrigi, kotorai͡a mozhet stoitʹ emu zhizni...

Writer Stuart Hogg, who recently basked in the rays of fame thanks to the noisy success of his debut novel, is experiencing creative stagnation. The fees dried up, friends scattered, only the capricious dog Lulu and professional pride remained. But fate is preparing a new test for Stuart when the aging comedian Sunny Day, the former king of eccentric comedy, offers him to become ... a literary slave! Stepping on his throat, Hoag agrees to write Sonny's memoirs for him and plunges headlong into the world of Hollywood of the 1940s and 50s with its brilliance, crazy money and no less crazy lifestyle. However, someone really does not want the memoirs to see the light, and diligently intimidates Stewart and Day. Trying to get to the truth, Stuart unwittingly finds himself in the middle of a dangerous intrigue that could cost him his life...