The infamous gossip columnist Walter Winchell once rightly said: “Hollywood is where they shoot too many pictures and not enough actors.” In their novel, Celebutantes, Ruthanna Hopper and Amanda Goldberg certainly seem to agree.

First coined by Winchell in 1939 with reference to society debutante Brenda Frazier and her spectacular entrance on the New York high society scene, the word itself has recently enjoyed a revival with the arrival of famous little rich girls like Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan.

Hopper and Goldberg drag us into their unpleasant world: one filled with superficialities, artifice and trickery served with the occasional glass of champagne. Lola is the daughter and embarrassment of fictional famous Hollywood director, Paul Santisi. In the run up to the Oscar ceremony, Lola resolves to help her three best friends, Hollywood agent Kate, aspiring actress Cricket and fashion designer Julian, to make it big in “Hollyweird”. Her main task is to convince a famous A-lister to wear one of the latter’s designs, though this proves to be a juggling act in the fine arts of grovelling, self-humiliation, chicanery and sweet-talking.

While no blistering satire, Celebutantes contains several sublimely absurd moments, many ridiculing some of the world’s favourite household names. All the petty squabbles, back-stabbing, superficialities and farce associated with the City of Angels are placed under the spotlight. Tom Hanks participates in a spiritual cleansing ritual; Jessica Simpson is explained the difference between avian flu and Evian water; Jennifer Lopez relishes the freebies given during awards season. Even the stars’ housekeepers do not escape the scathing. Their lives consist of abuse at the hands of their tyrannically self-obsessed employers and recovery at the Celebrity Housekeeper and Nanny Support Group. This is a society in which angst is purged by “doing a Virginia Woolf” and drowning oneself in the Beverly Hills Hotel pool.

Narcissism is all the rage and everything is determined by appearances. The Santisi family name had been changed from Sitowitz, disguising their Jewish Georgian origins. The outfit worn by the Oscar nominees is as important, if not more so, than the work they are seeking recognition for. Despite this, personal identities are blurred and identities can be borrowed or stolen. Lola’s actor ex-boyfriend’s idea of romance is to whisper old movie lines in her ear, claiming them as his own. Nothing is original and Lola herself steals all her better clothes from her mother. Yet, she is a likeable character, full of insecurities, or what she calls “the Unworthies”.

Hopper and Goldberg are no Hollywood belletrists. Yet, the preening show they misanthropically present is horrifying in its detail. And by debunking the lifestyles of the rich and famous, they, very easily, make us feel better about our own.