Gloss

by: Jennifer Oko

Published by: MIRA Books

Reviewed by Beth Cummings

Sometimes a story starts close to the end and works its way back to the beginning, then the middle and then to a recap of sorts. This is often the case in television journalism—particularly the human-interest stories found on the morning news programs. At least that is how Annabelle Kapner sees it. She is the producer of a weekly piece called “American Ideals” that airs on the “New Day USA” program, the morning news for the ZBC network.

As she tells the story, Annie is in jail. She has stumbled into a simple story about lip gloss that has escalated into international espionage, corporate crime and involves a person of no lesser status than the Vice President of the United States. The network seems to be disavowing her. Her friends and her new boyfriend don’t call or visit. Will she be able to convince the world—particularly her world of glossy televised gossip and news clips, that she really was an innocent in the grand scheme of this affair?

Jennifer Oko, a real life producer for “CBS News’ The Early Show,” has created an alter ego in a fictional world. With the knowledge and insight of someone who knows how television programming is created, Oko gives a strong taste of the real life grit and glitz of “live” TV. While the network and its employees are strictly fictional, they have quirks that feel as if they must have come from true-to-life examples. Her own news background lets her demonstrate the complexities of journalistic ethics and the intrigue of insider politics while creating a story that was a lot of fun to read. Some of the on-air but behind-the-scenes action were truly hilarious, but seemed real to me as a former employee of a public television station that occasionally put staff on as part of fund-raising broadcasts.

This novel is Jennifer Oko’s first, following a memoir written under the name Jennifer Beth Cohen. I hope she writes another soon.

Armchair Interviews agrees.