Former Malibu resident Carole Raphaelle Davis gives the inside look of being a Hollywood wife in her first book “The Diary of Jinky, Dog of a Hollywood Wife,” told through the eyes of her dog.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to the Malibu Times
“To think that I was on death row… and now I’ve got a house in the Hollywood Hills with a pool, sports cars and a hot blond girlfriend,” Jinky, the ex-con bragged. “She’s fixed and I’ve got no balls; we’re the complete Hollywood couple!”
No, these are not the confessions of the latest rap artist or the newest plot for HBO’s hit series “Entourage.” These are merely the musings of Jinky, as told by his mistress, author/actress/singer Carole Raphaelle Davis. Hot off the presses from Andrews McMeel Publishing, “The Diary of Jinky, Dog of a Hollywood Wife,” was penned by just such a wife, who has an ear for the tawdry and the divine in a one-industry town.
Jinky’s true-life story is the perfect Hollywood plot line. Abandoned to an animal shelter in San Pedro, Jinky was slated to meet his maker (or, as Jinky terms it, be “murdered”) within hours, when a volunteer at the shelter intervened. Noting Jinky’s signature appeal, Hal Moore called a friend who called another friend and Jinky ended up with an organization called Chihuahua Rescue, whose passion for rescuing animals evidently is not limited to small Mexican dogs.
“Jinky was with a bunch of other dogs at a pet adoption event in Burbank,” Davis recounted. “My husband spotted him in a cage and said he looked just like a fruit bat.”
The dog was promptly adopted and christened “Jinky,” after the name of a character-who happened to be a fruit bat-in a television series written by Davis’ husband, Kevin Rooney, a political comedy writer who co-writes for “The Dennis Miller Show” and “Bill Maher.”
As Jinky says in his diary, “Just when you think you’re going to get the noose around your neck, your whole life can turn around.”
He ended up in the pampered laps of a comedy television writer and a shrewdly observant Hollywood wife. (Before Davis became a Hollywood wife, she lived in Malibu many years.)
In his new life in Laurel Canyon, Jinky learns a great deal about the “Biz,” performance anxiety, out-of-control spending and blanket neuroses. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense to him because his priorities involve the simple things-two squares, a soft pillow to sleep on and an open field to run in.
However, Jinky’s quest for the simple life is confounded by inexplicable human foible: people who “spend thousands of dollars on a fake rain-shower head for their fancy bathrooms so they can have the feeling of rain,” but who then complain about needing an umbrella when it actually does rain.
Davis, who started a Jinky blog before the book, tells her Hollywood tale through the eyes of her dog with remarkable candor.
“My husband was a bit nervous,” she said. “My Jinky blog was getting so popular, showing us with warts and all, but Kevin was pretty brave about it. The book takes an honest look at our marriage. We may be neurotic, but in Hollywood, we definitely aren’t the only ones. There are a lot of readers who will say, ‘Ha! That’s nothing!’ Jinky’s diary is a humorous indictment of the excesses of Hollywood society and the status quo.”
A French-born actress and model, Davis didn’t write “The Diary of Jinky” merely to offend self-obsessed film industry cognoscenti.
“In Hollywood, we can be so pampered that we lose sight of what is important in life,” she said. “Family, friends, appreciation of a walk on a beautiful beach. These are all the things dogs enjoy and we can learn a lot from them.”
Davis also wanted to highlight the work of animal rescue agencies and the challenges they face. Depending on whose statistics you accept, “shelters kill between four million and twelve million animals a year, and yet, you have these pet stores that sell over-bred puppies for hundreds of dollars!”
Davis said she believes it is immoral not to choose a pet from an adoption center. “For the price of one pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, you could save nine dogs from being killed. And they would all be neutered to try and break this cycle.”
“The Diary of Jinky” has a book launch and special reading offered by Book Soup in West Hollywood on Saturday, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Davis said the book was accepted for a launch party when she was showing a copy to the store’s owner and pop star Elton John was visiting.
“Elton and [his partner] David Furbish were in the store and bought a copy immediately. They said they had an adopted dog at their home in London!”