"I wish that I was as tough as she, but unfortunately I'm not. She makes no excuses for herself, yet has, I think, an endearingly self-deprecating sense of humor," says former Milwaukeean and author Leslie Stella. "Like Lisa, I have worked my share of crap jobs, but unlike Lisa, I go fetal when the going gets rough; she broods and picks fights and gets tanked."
Lisa, a 32-year-old south side, working class girl, slaving away as a salesclerk at the posh Fishman's department store in Chicago, is Lisa Galisa, the fictional subject of Stella's newest book, "The Easy Hour."
When Lisa lands a job as the personal assistant to one of Chicago's elite socialites, she finds herself in the position of trend-setter royale. In a modern, "The Emperor's New Clothes" style, Lisa takes the opportunity to introduce Chicago high society to dive bars, polyester and easy listening.
The "bon chic, bon genre' of the Windy City lap it up, always looking for the next big thing. Before they know it, Lisa's got the world of caviar and champagne mingling with janitors and fry cooks in Chicago's working class neighborhoods, and finding it, absolutely fabulous.
"The Easy Hour" will be a pee-in-the-pants hoot for anyone not buying into the inveterate glitterati, and gotta-have-its of the celebrity cult realm. Although it may have the Burberry-scarved, Louis Vuitton-toting, Gucci-clad people of the world running to the returns counter (with those brand new, $500 must-have pair of Donna Karan socks, of course).
"Generally, I'd have to say that I write for the seemingly ordinary person who makes fun of everyone else," says Stella. "My protagonists are regular people with regular jobs, but they rage against the machine in a way that certain folks really can identify with. You know who you are!"
Stella says she got inspiration for the book from a 1970s British comedy, "Are You Being Served?" about some irritable and wacky department store clerks. "I wanted to create a modern equivalent, with people who find themselves forging a family bond with their coworkers and having a lot of fun at the expense of the customers," says Stella.
Poking fun of urban social climbers aside, Stella says the book has some more serious underlying themes, including the vanity of human desires and the longing to achieve what society says is success, rather than what makes somebody happy. She also wanted to make Lisa Galisa a woman of the 21st century.
{INSERT_RELATED}"Lisa is not thin by any means, in fact she could probably kick any man's ass in the book, and she makes no apologies for her size. She never goes on a diet, she never loses any weight and she never thinks of herself as ugly or disgusting, as so many women disparage themselves," says Stella.
"She may poke fun at herself, which I think is completely normal, but the truth is she likes herself. She wears fabulous clothes, has boyfriends and an active social life and I hope that sends a positive message that people of all sizes are attractive and acceptable and should be content with themselves, no matter what fashion dictates."
Stella got her break into the biz when she began working for a well-known indie 'zine Lumpen Times in Chicago in 1993. It was her writing there that gave her enough clout to publish her first novel, "Fat Bald Jeff," in 2001.
Before that, Stella studied at Marquette University. She says she's looking forward to her visit to Milwaukee for a reading at Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop on Mon., May 12.
"Maybe I'll get a drink at Vitucci's, if it's still there. I had some good experiences at Marquette and still keep in touch with a couple of friends from school, but overall I never quite felt that I fit in there. I also didn't devote anywhere near the appropriate time to my studies -- I was too busy going out. I really wasted my education, though I did develop a fine appreciation of beer and cheese," says Stella.
Stella will read at Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop located at 2559 N. Downer Ave. at 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call the bookshop at (414) 332-1181.
