GIGOLOS: The World's Best Kept Men

A short history of the gigolo, including the origins of the name (Fr., paid dancing partners) and profiles of a few of the luminaries that elevated the trick of living off women to the level of a fine art. Porifirio Ruberosa, for example, married five of the world's wealthiest women and died, happy, when his Ferrari crashed on his return from an all-night party. His reputation was such, says the author, that when one asked for a 15"" peppermill in Italy, one asked for the ""ruberosa."" Too bad, but this is a shabbily written book, hastily thrown together, with absolutely no psychological insight into the workings of such characters' minds or much entertainment value. One good quote from an Italian practitioner: ""To get a woman, you must make her think you need her. . . .Sex is most important in the beginning. First you must shock a woman with sex. Then you calm the atmosphere with romance. After that you give the impression that you are leaving tomorrow."" For $8.95, you've already had it.