Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

Loved this book. It starts out in a small town in Italy in 1962 and a young innkeeper, Pasquale Tursi sees an approaching boat, carrying a beautiful woman, Dee. She is an American movie star, in Italy and part of the cast of the movie, Cleopatra. He falls instantly in love and that carries the book back and forth in time, ending in the present day in Idaho.
There are lots of intersecting stories here, all involving the same cast of characters over time. Walter combines his fictional characters with "real" people, including Richard Burton, who is the father of one of the fictional characters.  The story keeps the interest of the reader throughout, going back and forth in time, relating the different characters to each other. He also includes some other fictional works within his own novel: the first chapter of an unfinished novel by an American who comes to Tursi's hotel once a  year to write, but never seems to make any progress beyond that first chapter. And there's the beginning of a screenplay written by Shane, an aspiring writer who wants to have his story based on the Donner story turned into a screenplay.
The book is funny and satirical, and also touching.  I really enjoyed reading this and will pick up others by Jess Walter, now that I have been exposed to him as a writer.