Rent Driving the Saudis: A Chauffeur's Tale of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness on Rodeo Drive

Synopsis

An Upstairs, Downstairs, true-life fable for our global times, this memoir tells the funny and surprising tale of weeks spent as chauffeur to the Saudi royal family during one decadent Beverly Hills vacation.

After more than a decade of working in Hollywood, actress Jayne Amelia Larson found herself out of luck, out of work, and out of prospects. She took a job as a limo driver to pay the bills, and soon got hired to drive for the Saudi royal family vacationing in LA with millions of dollars to burn. Larson was in for the ride of her life.

In a memoir called "sharp-eyed and humane" (Kirkus Reviews) and "thoroughly enjoyable" (Publishers Weekly), Larson brings awestruck humor and deep compassion to describe her eye-opening adventures as the only female in a detail of more than forty chauffeurs assigned to drive beautiful Saudi princesses and their extensive entourage as they bought up half of LA in mega-shopping sprees, rented out entire floors of luxury hotels, and went under the knife for multiple plastic surgeries. From racing around town to get iPhones for one bratty princess and all her teenaged friends, to carrying a middle-aged elite back to the car when the anesthesia for her buttocks reduction surgery took too long to wear off, Larson's account of the real royals is as funny as it is insightful.

Even with all its excess, Driving the Saudis reveals the complicated nuances of a traditional society. While experiencing a life-changing "behind the veil" glimpse into Saudi culture, Larson ultimately discovers that we're all very much the same everywhere—the forces that corrupt us, make us desperate, and make us human are surprisingly universal.

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