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Agent to the Stars

暢銷書——《星探》

Imagine that you're an alien. You've travelled long distances and endured great hardships to get to this strange little planet called Earth. You'd like to make contact with the natives， and according to the television programs that Earth has been beaming out， one traditional way is to land in the United States， preferably with a dramatic entrance in front of the White House.

設(shè)想你是一個外星人，歷經(jīng)千辛萬苦從遙遠的地方來到這個叫做地球的奇怪的小行星。你很想與地球人相接觸，根據(jù)地球通過無線電向外發(fā)送的電視節(jié)目，一個常見方式就是登陸美國，并最好以一個戲劇性的進入方式在白宮門口出現(xiàn)。

There's just a slight problem. You look like a villainous glob of goo， and worse， you smell like rotting sewage ，and that's on a good day. You're just not ready to meet anyone， let alone a world leader， in that state.

但有個小麻煩。你看上去像一團罪惡的黏糊糊的膿塊，更糟糕的是，你散發(fā)著臭水溝里腐爛的氣味——這可是在天風(fēng)和日麗的一天。你還沒準備好見任何人，更別說見這個國家的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人。

Who do you call to fix your image? Why， a Hollywood agent， of course!

該找誰來給你設(shè)計個形象？哎，當(dāng)然是好萊塢代理人啦！

In this hilarious， satirical novel by John Scalzi， Thomas Stein is a rising star in the world of Hollywood agents. One of his clients is starring in the hottest Hollywood blockbuster， and he's just closed the deal of a lifetime for her to star in the sequel. His life takes a turn for the rather unexpected when his boss gives him a new assignment: representing the entire alien race of the Yherajk for their star turn for humanity.

這本出自于約翰#8226;斯卡爾奇之手的歡鬧而又富有諷刺意味的小說中，托馬斯#8226;斯坦是好萊塢代理商中的驟起新星。他有一位客戶在最熱門的好萊塢大片中大紫大紅，他剛完成幫助她在下一部作品中依然成為主演的重要任務(wù)。當(dāng)他的老板給他新任務(wù)：代理一個叫Yherajk的外星種族，使他們成為面向人類的明星時，他的生活發(fā)生了意想不到的轉(zhuǎn)變。

Scalzi takes the stereotypes of interstellar contact and ruthless Hollywood culture and gleefully twists them around. Beneath their smelly appearance， the Yherajk are intelligent and complicated.The beautiful blonde movie star proves to have a surprising depth. Even the character of a nosy tabloid reporter， a stock character in novels about Hollywood， is written with unexpected humor.

斯卡爾奇搬用老套的星際戰(zhàn)爭及好萊塢的暴力文化，并樂此不彼地它們錯綜復(fù)雜地穿插在一起。Yherajk外在惡臭，卻非常聰明。那個金發(fā)碧眼的電影明星出人意料，城府居然如此深厚，即便那個好打聽的小報記者，一個好萊塢小說中的小丑角色也被描述得如此生動幽默。

Although Agent to the Stars is a light and fast-paced read， it does also touch on some serious issues， including questions of identity and the ethical dilemma of taking a patient off life support， which proves to be an issue of great debate for both humans and the Yherajk.

雖然《星探》是一本節(jié)奏快的消遣讀物，卻觸及一些嚴肅的問題，包括身份認可的問題，及一種道德上的進退兩難，是否該放棄僅依靠外在條件維持生命垂危的病人，這是人類也是Yherajk.頗具爭議的話題?！?br>