Rating: 
Summary: An Entertaining Look Inside
Review: This was a most enjoyable book....a look at how the super-wealthy denizens of the Hamptons really live. The author tells many gossipy tales, but at the same time, gives the reader a great deal of historical background about the early settlers of the area; those who became wealthy via the real estate of the Hamptons; and the mega-wealthy newcomers who seem to delight in flaunting their wealth even as they try to remain anonymous...or perhaps the right word would be "mysterious". I think Gaines, an insider who lives in the Hamptons, has done his research and perfectly relates the superficial life led by many of the residents there. This book read like fiction and I finished it very quickly. Many of the characters who populated the book were very odd people, ones that a reader would expect to meet in a novel. I found the story of Gardiner's Island fascinating. It was first settled by Lion Gardiner in 1639, and was the first permanent English settlement in New York. Lion bought this from the Indians and it has been owned by his descendents ever since. They allow no trespassing. I also enjoyed the story of The Creeks, one of the largest estates in the Hamptons. It was created in incredible splendor by Arthur and Adele Herter and recently rebuilt by Ron Perelman. In the intervening years, The Creeks belonged to the artist Alfonso Ossorio and his lover Ted Dragon, an interesting couple. These men befriended Jackson Pollock and their story included interesting information about Pollock's life and tragic death. This says it all: "The establishment can hold off the newcomers for only so long. There are always more of Them than Us". The "Them" he refers to are the Philistines at the hedgerow.
Rating:
Summary: There goes the neighborhood
Review: True, this is essentially a high-society romance starring real estate, a West Hamptons Side Story, if you will. Gaines smoothly braids his stories of us, them, and the properties thereof into an engaging soap opera. The cast swings all the way from the old-guard, dullsville entitlement of the folks at the Maidstone Club to polished avant-garde goings-on at The Creeks, in between which Ted Dragon nicks furniture for a hobby. Gaines's adroit telling of these stories will even surprise you into empathy for the neighbors round Barry Trupin's mansion, a poster "child" for matters done with gaucherie and lack of moderation. It's those last which seem to be the ultimate sin against the Hamptons, and its Wodehousian, overprivileged world.
Rating:
Summary: There goes the neighborhood
Review: True, this is essentially a high-society romance starring real estate, a West Hamptons Side Story, if you will. Gaines smoothly braids his stories of us, them, and the properties thereof into an engaging soap opera. The cast swings all the way from the old-guard, dullsville entitlement of the folks at the Maidstone Club to polished avant-garde goings-on at The Creeks, in between which Ted Dragon nicks furniture for a hobby. Gaines's adroit telling of these stories will even surprise you into empathy for the neighbors round Barry Trupin's mansion, a poster "child" for matters done with gaucherie and lack of moderation. It's those last which seem to be the ultimate sin against the Hamptons, and its Wodehousian, overprivileged world.
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