Dangerous Company (Fall 2003)

While it's easy to understand why Miramax's publishing division would buy a debut fiction collection from ''Variety'' editor Peter Bart, innocent readers need not follow suit. His stories read like studio coverage of cliche-ridden scripts, padded with dialogue that sounds the same no matter what straw figure is speaking (both a movie-star lothario and the flight attendant he hits on refer to her as a ''stew''). When not merely laughable, Bart's scenarios are surprisingly implausible (a lesbian production chief using gay epithets) and error-laden (a director flying to L.A. to meet with New York-based Sony Classics). And despite rare throwaway lines like ''Sly Stallone has had more work done than Joan Rivers,'' ''Company'' is less dishy than disheveled.