''Vapor'' (

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

) is the second novel by American writer Amanda Filipacchi. It was translated into French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, and Polish. The novel was praised for an energetic originality showcasing a “prodigious

postfeminist The term postfeminism (alternatively rendered as post-feminism) is used to describe reactions against contradictions and absences in feminism, especially second-wave feminism and third-wave feminism. The term ''postfeminism'' is sometimes confuse ...

talent.”

Plot summary

''Vapor'' is the story of Anna Graham, an aspiring actress who one night saves the life of a stranger being attacked in the subway. The stranger, Damon Wetly, an unconventional scientist, decides that he will repay Anna's selfless act by making her dream of becoming a great actress come true. In a twisted reworking of the Pygmalion story, Damon abducts Anna, imprisons her in a house filled with experimental clouds, and spends months putting her through a grueling training regimen which allows her acting skills to reach unprecedented heights and Anna to achieve her Hollywood ambitions.

Canceled film

A planned Warner Bros. movie adaptation of ''Vapor'' starring Sandra Bullock,

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

, Anjelica Huston, and

Aaron Eckhart Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. He began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his h ...

was cancelled at the last minute by Warner Bros., even as some media reports were stating that filming on the production had begun.

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, '' In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance F ...

, who had written the screenplay and was about to direct, was subsequently profiled in ''New York'' magazine which described ''Vapor''’s axing as the director’s “first truly bitter experience in film.”

Critical reception

''Time'' magazine called it "amusingly absurd" and "rewardingly escapist," while the ''Christian Science Monitor'' called it a "strange novel", a "through-the-looking-glass vision of America's obsession with personalities." At the Irish Film and Television Awards, Ralph Fiennes said of ''Vapor'': “It's a quirky dark love story—surreal, fantastic!"

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Amanda Filipacchi: Official Website
Novels by Amanda Filipacchi 1999 American novels Absurdist fiction American magic realism novels American satirical novels Novels about actors Black comedy books Postmodern novels Novels set in Los Angeles Carroll & Graf books