In this hype-hungry, YouTube-fueled era of bogus lonely girls and crocodile-tear-spouting nancy boys scoring sketchy stardom and nebulous development deals, let us give thanks for online journalist Diablo Cody. Proprietress of the gamely profane, decidedly feminist blog Pussy Ranch, Cody (real name: Brook Busey-Hunt) began posting in the early Blogolithic period of 2000 and was soon plucked from the crowd by a Hollywood producer who helped her land a book deal. The result was Candy Girl, a surprisingly funny and (quite literally) revealing memoir about her unlikely career turn as a stripper and a phone-sex operator, which found fans in David Letterman (it was the late-night funnyman's first — and only — book club selection) and Steven Spielberg, who signed her up to develop a comedy series, The United States of Tara, for Showtime. "I didn't intend to use my blog as a career springboard," Cody says. "I'm a graphomaniac. I feel like I don't exist unless I'm documenting my life, and I think that translates into writing things people can relate to."
Post-Candy, Cody is poised for even sweeter success with the December release of Juno, a coming-of-age indie written by her and directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking). The flick stars Ellen Page and Jennifer Garner, and (hurrah!) reunites Arrested Development's Jason Bateman and Michael Cera. Since its filmfest premiere in Toronto last fall, Juno has been touted as a funnier, brainier Napoleon Dynamite with an Oscar-worthy script. "The excitement around Diablo reminds me of Reservoir Dogs-era Tarantino," Reitman says. "Her work is like no one else's out there right now."
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