As a young man, John Reynolds fled his provincial hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for Los Angeles, lured by the promise of a life fueled by the excitement of show business. But after 20 years in Hollywood, Reynolds feels existentially unfulfilled. He resides in a beautiful mansion with his wife and daughter, and his business is booming, but Reynolds remains despondent as his attempts to pivot into producing his own movie projects fail again and again. 

Depressed and at a creative dead end, Reynolds finds himself inexplicably drawn back to the historical setting of his youth: he has secretly signed up to participate in a weekend-long reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg in the unlikely California town of Enchino, 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Just before his departure, an ex-Playmate - the very centerfold of Reynolds’s adolescent daydreams - pitches him her idea for a reality TV show. When Reynolds impulsively invites the former Playmate and her best friend, a former Miss Universe, to accompany him to the reenactment, his plans for a solitary weekend of self-discovery run amok. 

With a compulsively listenable narrative that offers a satirical portrait of Hollywood - the deal-making, the politics, the pitches - Gettysburg is an intelligent and powerful book about contemporary America.

Copyright 2019 by Kevin Morris. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, Inc. “West” Words and Music by Lucinda Williams 2007 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of Alfred Publishing, LLC; “Ingrid Bergman.” Words by Woody Guthrie. Music by Billy Bragg 1998, 1999 Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc./Admin. by Bug Music and Chrysalis Music/Admin. by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC; “All About That Bass.” Words and Music by Kevin Kadish and Meghan Trainor. Copyright 2014 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Over-Thought Under-Appreciated Songs, Year of the Dog Music and MTrain Music. All Rights on behalf of Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC and Over-Thought Under-Appreciated Songs Administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219. All Rights on behalf of Year Of The Dog Music and MTrain Music Administered by Downtown Music Publishing LLC. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC; “Buffalo Soldier.” Words and Music by Noel Williams and Bob Marley. Copyright 1983 EMI Longitude Music and Music Sales Corporation. All Rights on behalf of EMI Longitude Music Administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC.