It's like Margaritaville but with Schnapps.

I just finished Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys by Eric Garcia.

It was a wacky read.  

The review from Publishers Weekly said:
A Hollywood lawyer concocts a powerful new weapon in the war between the sexes in this spicy Tinseltown satire from Garcia (Matchstick Men, etc.). The fun begins when Cassandra French, a movie studio lawyer, anesthetizes three of her would-be paramours, then locks them up in her basement. There she conducts "finishing school" courses to transform them into perfect gentlemen. All goes swimmingly until French is asked out by beefcake movie star Jason Kelly, only to discover he was using her to set up a lawsuit against her studio. French gets revenge by abducting Kelly, but the plot twists come fast and furious after he accidentally electrocutes himself, leaving her to dispose of the body. At the cheeky climax, French's gorgeous, air-headed yoga instructor friend takes the finishing school concept in a startling new direction. French's penchant for great one-liners is matched by Garcia's imaginative plotting and his dead-on satire of life in L.A., Hollywood and the movie industry. The oddball conceit makes this novel an unlikely winner, but Garcia has crafted a quirky, pedal-to-the-metal satiric romp that remains fresh, likable and funny from start to finish. 

After reading that review, I HAD to read the book.  I found myself having trouble getting into the story at times, stalling in the first quarter of the book repeatedly.  But I finally finished, and although I was starting to get a "who cares" feeling about the story, I actually felt a bit uplifted in the end.  

It's incredibly wacky, but not too disturbing (a problem I had with Augusten Burroughs' Running with Scissors.)

I give it a B.  If you're looking for something with a little psychosis, it's a good read.

“Oh? And what's that, Marlene?” Neville asked as she slathered pain relieving salve on his arm. He'd refused the potion.

“Oxygen deprivation,” she replied, a bit too smugly.

“Oxygen deprivation?” Martel asked as he fired off another shot. “What's that got to do with anything?”

“Men suffer from it continuously,” she told them as she immobilized Neville's arm. At their blank looks, she rolled her eyes. “Blood carries oxygen to the brain,” she explained. “But men were given a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time. And seeing how the Leftenant here is a newly married man...” She left the rest hanging as Martel snorted a laugh.


from Bobmin's "Sunrise over Britain," Chapter 19 : http://bobmin.fanficauthors.net/Sunrise_Over_Britain/Chapter_19_Difficult_Times_for_all.php