PEOPLE LIKE US

by Dominick Dunne ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 2, 1988

Though separate plot-strands here never come together in a satisfying way, this is nonetheless a superb behind-the-scenes melodrama of New York society in the 80's--a kind of companion piece to The Bonfire of the Vanities for those interested in the doings of Gotham's real-life rich and famous (often only thinly disguised here). As in Dunne's The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1985), the story centers around an upstart who is desperately seeking entrÉe into the closed world of New York's old rich. In this case, it's Ruby Renthal, once a stewardess, now the pretty young wife of crass but oh-so-wealthy Cleveland financier Elias Renthal, who has headed East in the hopes of coring the Big Apple. Arrayed against the Renthals (""New People"") are the People of the title--""WASPS in the Social Register,"" as Dunne explains succinctly--epitomized by banker Laurance Van Degan and his inhumanly snobbish sister, Lil Altemus. Lil snorts delicately at the Renthals' various gaucheries, but finally has to watch in horror as Elias bribes his way into Laurance's good graces (as well as private club) and Ruby is taken under the wing of classier-than-thou socialite Loella Manchester (currently having the affair of the year with millionaire shoe-designer Mickie Minardos). In the end, Ruby eclipses Lil to give--in her new 41-room Fifth Avenue apartment--an extravagant and (it turns out) wildly hilarious ball that is the wonderful centerpiece of the novel. By the time Elias succumbs, Ivan Boesky-like, to Wall Street scandals, the reader has been taken on an exhilarating, gossipy tour through the closets of the modern-day 400--a tour that includes many a wicked cameo. Along the way, however, it's unfortunate that a sizable and unintegrated subplot is devoted to an obviously autobiographical story--the tragedy of writer Gus Bailey, whose daughter (like Dunne's own, actress Dominique Dunne) was strangled by a man who got off with a light prison sentence. Though sporadically moving, Bailey's ultimate plight and his plans for revenge are unbelievable and contrived. Still, Dunne's newest is a masterly popular novel, on target consistently, by a man who knows--along with Scott Fitzgerald--that the very rich are very different. And wonderfully fascinating.

Pub Date: June 2, 1988

ISBN: 0345521048

Page Count: -

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION