In the summer of 2003, mere weeks before his fortieth birthday, Lunt
Moreland checks in at Hollywood's infamous Hotel Ofotert for the upcoming
Sharonfest, a gathering of his fellow Sharonophiles--obsessive,
lifelong devotees of the 1960s movie starlet and Charles Manson murder
victim, Sharon Tate. Soon after arriving at the Hotel Ofotert, Lunt begins
to receive ominous packages and menacing phone calls. Is his rival Glenn
Mandrake, who is intent on blocking the publication of a Tate-centered book
Lunt is trying to publish, responsible for these? Could it be his longtime
confidante, the physically handicapped Sharonophile named Branson? Or
perhaps the ill-intentioned sender is the quirky and beautiful green-haired
young hipster whom Lunt has fallen for--and who also happens to be a
lifelong member of Charles Mansons's still-existing cult, The Family--to
blame? All that's certain is that Lunt's growing dependence on an
Mucaquell, a powerful opiate-based cough syrup is not helping him get to
the bottom things. Especially one he runs out... Comic, wistful, and
perverse, Set the Controls for the Heart of Sharon Tate tackles the nature
of reality and the dehumanizing elements of fame and celebrity.