Henry Cadwallader, an English doctor, is accompanying his aspiring-actress daughter on a trip to Hollywood, fearing that she will be corrupted. Once there, however, he finds that he is the one being corrupted, at every turn.

On the plane they have met Rick McCartney, a young American who calls himself 'an auteur of the future'. Rick is trying to make a movie called 'The Penultimate Dodo', a costume drama set in 17th century England about a man who owns what he fears is the last dodo on earth.

Dorothy Cadwallader's quest for fame begins badly and goes downhill from there. Meanwhile Henry becomes involved with a former actress turned realtor.

The lives of Henry and Dorothy once again intersect with that of Rick McCartney, to dramatic effect. All find themselves drawn into a world of Hollywood glamour, obsession, pornography and dodos, where dreams die and extinction threatens.

The Hollywood Dodo is a complex, many-layered novel in the tradition of Nicholson's highly acclaimed Bleeding London.