The Day of the Locust is one of the best novels ever written about Hollywood. It is a savage eye-opener that sucks every ounce of glamour out of Hollywood. Rather than focus on the movie stars and directors of the day, West instead turns his keen eye on all those working around him: laborers, artisans, technicians, stand-ins, stunt people, second and third-rate actors, all the maligned, injured, resentful, alcoholic, disenchanted, abused, and subservient people subsisting at the fringes of the film industry. The Day of the Locust is a profoundly universally critical literary classic.