It's a classic rags-to-riches-to-rags story. Film and television writer Jerry Stahl, the author of Permanent Midnight, turns his attention back to Hollywood with this fictionalized memoir of actor Fatty Arbuckle, who gained wealth and fame for his comedic talents and then infamy for being at the center of one of the industry's first celebrity trials, in which he was accused (and acquitted) of rape and murder.

"Stahl's a fabulous writer, tunneling deep into Fatty's mind, creating a richly sympathetic voice that veers from wisecracks to woe, all brilliantly illuminating the humanity behind the clown mask, and revealing a man starving for love."
&mdash Boston Globe

"I, Fatty may overflow with insider gossip and speculation on the often sordid affairs of the young movie industry's biggest stars, but it also reveals how exciting it was to be an actor or director in Hollywood's formative years."
&mdash Chicago Sun Times

He draws a sympathetic portrait of a keen, wounded actor in a tale replete with insightful portraits of American vaudeville and silent film.
&mdash Kirkus

"Stahl... explores these themes with intelligence and compassion. "
&mdash Washington Post

"I, Fatty may lack the imaginative audacity of cinema novels such as Steve Erickson's Days Between Stations or Theodore Roszak's Flicker, but in terms of its getting under Fatty's skin and creating a truly sympathetic hero in a series of tight spots, it's without equal."
&mdash The Independent

"Finally, the true skinny on Fatty...Jerry Stahl brilliantly gives life, voice, truth and respect to Roscoe Arbuckle, redeeming the unjustly tarnished memory of a wildly great talent and great wild man."
&mdash Johnny Depp

"Stahl shows his heart in this sad, wild, uproarious faux memoir of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle."
&mdash Publishers Weekly

"..harrowing resonance with our own modern-day obsessions with sex and celebrity."
&mdash Booklist