Rebeck breaks the story into four sections, one narrated by each Heller sibling. Given her background as a playwright, it is not surprising that she is able to create convincing, distinctive voices for the teenagers. Heightening the authenticity, Rebeck peppers the novel with real-life people and places. The girls appear on "Live With Regis and Kelly," mingle with movie stars at the W Hotel and model lingerie for GQ magazine. The true-to-life references add to the illlusion that we are getting a behind-the-scenes peek at the lives of New York celebrities. When Amelia is cast in an off-Broadway play, Rebeck takes the opportunity to also gently mock the pretensions and insecurities of the New York theater scene. But Rebeck - the playwright behind "Spike Heels," "Bad Dates" and her 2007 Broadway debut, "Mauritius" - treats stage actors with more affection than models and movie stars. The book could have been little more than a frothy beach read, but Rebeck undercuts the fun with darker points about celebrity culture - particularly the damage caused by the media's sexualization of young girls.
The youngest Heller siblings are at greatest risk from the sisters' newfound fame. As Amelia's celebrity begins to eclipse that of her sisters, the adolescent becomes the target of a powerful star's sleazy designs. The most sympathetic of the Heller siblings - the brother of the title, Philip - is more or less discarded by his family as his sisters' lives becomes all-consuming. The novel's climactic last scene may be over-the-top, but a touch of surrealism is perhaps appropriate in a book about the often bizarre celebrity circus. As we are reminded by watching Britney, Paris and our other real-life "It Girls," truth can be even stranger than fiction.
