Caprice Crane knows the Hollywood scene.  Her mother is the renowned film, television and stage actress Tina Louise, perhaps best known as Ginger Grant from the enduring sitcom "Gilligan’s Island."  And her father is former talk show host and Grammy winner Les Crane.  Caprice herself was a head writer with MTV Networks, producing and writing an array of comedy, dramedy, news, reviews, and rock-star biographies. She also served as a music supervisor for film and TV, and founded her own record label.  

Now Caprice brings her finely-honed knowledge of pop culture and music to the literary world with her debut Stupid and Contagious (May 2006; 5 Spot, an imprint of Warner Books; Trade Paperback Original; $12.95), a highly original, zany romantic comedy novel with a winning sense of humor.  Excitingly, film rights have already been snatched up by New Line Cinema for Crane’s second novel, Forget About It, with Scarlett Johansson set to star.
In Stupid and Contagious, twenty-six-year-old Heaven Albright is a failed PR-executive turned attitude-challenged waitress who can’t seem to keep her customers happy.  Twenty-nine-year old Brady Gilbert is a struggling independent music producer with no bands.  But he does have dreams of striking it rich with his product idea, “Cinnamilk” --- the delicious beverage that results from leaving Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal in the bowl too long.

What do these people have in common?  Not much - in fact, as neighbors in Manhattan, the two of them start out hating each other. But when Heaven comes to Brady’s rescue after an encounter with his psycho ex-girlfriend, the tide turns, and Brady and Heaven soon become an unlikely pair of friends. With Heaven’s dog Strummer, the two go to Los Angeles, then Seattle, and home again on their quest to pitch Cinnamilk to Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks. 

Stupid and Contagious is told from the he said/she said perspective of the male and female protagonists in alternating chapters, which Crane masterfully navigates.  Anna Maxted calls it, “A truly exceptional book --- funny, twisted, clever, mean, and always brilliant.” Erica Kennedy, author of Bling, describes it as “insanely funny and outrageous,” Karen Salmansohn, author of How to be Happy, Dammit, hails it as “milk-snorting funny and playfully intriguing,” Brian Doyle Murray says it’s “bursting with humor that is smart and infectious,” and Johanna Edwards, bestselling author of The Next Big Thing and Your Big Break calls it “sharp, original, and wickedly funny, this is a must read.”