Rating: 
Summary: Intro. to Local Politics 101
Review: Although I am a product of a lower-middle class (financially) black family from New York who now lives in the district I have developed somewhat of an interest in local history from " both sides of the track." Even though I have just started reading this book, it is clear Mrs. Graham is a big part of local history. I have now also become interested in her autobiography. I do have one issue with the first full paragraph on page five of the book. This issue does not make this book anything less than first class. Vernon Jordan is so much more than than a friend and adviser to Bill Clinton. He was former head of the urban league, a civil rights attorney, and now an investment banker and is in my opinion and I would bet many others the most powerful Black in Washington this side of Clarence Thomas and Collin Powell. Additionally, in the same paragraph there is another slight to "local politicians" Tony Williams, Marion Barry and Walter Washington. Since the book is bathed in pretense it should be told that "Mayor" williams has three Ivy League degrees (2 Harvard, one Yale) and he is the mayor for god's sake. We all know former "Mayor" Marion Barry and his infamy but the author does not see Mr. Barry as worthy of more than the title of "local politician". "Mayor" Walter Washington (RIP) is arguably more well known inside beltway than Mrs. Graham. What he means to the District as being the first elected Mayor in the District resonates in more parts of the District more than Mrs. Graham's parties. Maybe the author should have made a little more aware. Job descriptions would have been fine. :)
Rating: 
Summary: Dinner Parties in Washington
Review: C. David Heymann found an interesting topic to write about. The women of Washington have been written about, but this book capitalizes on a less told part of Washington. Heymann talks about the parties given by some of the movers and shakers, including Katharine Graham, whose death he opens with. The author writes about the dinner parties and social events where deals were made and alliances formed, and the gossip that prevailed. While the author found a unique topic to write about, he found very little new information. The bibliography cites hundreds of books and articles, yet he lacks new interviews or original information. Heymann also relies upon quoted material frequently, which was disappointing. In all I found myself wanting more fresh information but he found a great topic to write about.
Rating: 
Summary: Heymann's Writing is Entertaining and Informative
Review: C. David Heymann, a quintessential New Yorker, has written a book about some quintessential Washingtonians --- five women who through their marriages, friendships, and careers set the scene of mid-to-late twentieth-century D.C. The women are Katharine Graham, Evangeline Bruce, Lorraine Cooper, Pamela Harriman and Sally Quinn (the only one of the quintet still living), along with dashes of Jacqueline Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor (presumably Heymann couldn't help himself, having written biographies of those two in the past). Heymann is an entertainment writer (several of his books have been TV miniseries), and this book does not try to act as history --- instead, it's a fast-moving mix of interviews, hearsay, anecdotes, quotes and fact. New York Post gossip columnist Liz Smith said the book is "one juicy story after another." However juicy they may be, most of the stories in THE GEORGETOWN LADIES' SOCIAL CLUB have been told before: Phil Graham's mental illness and suicide, Joe and Susan Mary Alsops's sham marriage, Jackie Kennedy's distraught widowhood, Mary Pinchot Meyer's still-unsolved murder, Pamela Harriman's easy-to-bed, easy-to-wed persona, Elizabeth Taylor's gluttonous time in Virginia --- these have all been fodder for Smith and her ilk for decades. What hasn't been told before is how these women were interconnected. One of the most fascinating things Heymann shows readers is just how small Georgetown is, and therefore just how amazing it is that all of these women had residences within minutes of each other. However, between all of the marriages, affairs, divorces, births, deaths, scandals, elections and parties, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of who knew whom when and why. A timeline would not have been a bad addition to the book, along with some kind of historical exegesis, especially considering that there are huge gaps of more than years between the English Pamela Digby's wartime wedding to Winston Churchill's son and Smith graduate Sally Quinn's seventies marriage to recently divorced Ben Bradlee. Despite the sometimes breathless and rushed pace, Heymann's writing is entertaining and --- when it comes to the two women whose stories have rarely been told --- informative as well. Evangeline ("Vangie") Bruce, wife of Ambassador David Bruce, and Lorraine Cooper, wife of Kentucky Senator John Sherman Cooper, were very powerful women in their own right, although the general public did not hear their names with the same frequency as Graham's or Harriman's or Quinn's. After all, neither Bruce nor Cooper had a spouse who killed himself, a string of wealthy lovers, or a career as a sharp-nibbed reporter. The work of these women was behind the scenes, as they carefully crafted dinner parties and cocktail hours with all of the cunning and cleverness of four-star generals. Both had high standards for themselves and others, going so far as to tell members of Congress where to find a good tailor and providing safe havens for presidential misbehavior. It was Ronald Reagan who coined the term "the Georgetown Ladies' Social Club," and no wonder --- the politician from Hollywood recognized others who were involved in acting. If the world of the Georgetown Ladies no longer exists, then this book is an intriguing look at an underrated part of American history. If the world of the Georgetown Ladies still exists, albeit in another guise, then this book is an intriguing let-the-players-beware... --- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Rating: 
Summary: Marriage more important than merit or talent?
Review: I'm a resident of Georgetown. What a pity these empty busy-bodies are held in any esteem at all. In a country where merit is traditionally the sign of success, the influence and celebration of these social parasites is a deep disappointment. Without a lick of talent or hard work and only as a result of birth or marriage these nincompoops achieved a measure of power and influence- greatly undeserved. This group of "social geniuses" was instrumental in Georgetown not receiving an underground Metro station fearing an overflow of "undesireables". As a result of this decision twenty years ago, Georgetown has had to purchase its own buses to supplement DC's bus lines adding to the traffic. And boy what traffic. Thousands visit Georgetown every week, with no Metro Station they drive their cars creating one of the most vehicle-congested neighborhoods in the United States. This same group's "descendents" is now whining about the need for an underground Metro. What horrible examples these cackling hens and their still active replacements are to young women today.
Rating:
Summary: Boring!
Review: If you have read Katherine Graham's book "Personal History", then save your money and don't buy The Georgetown Ladies. It is almost as though Heymann took the words right out of Grahams Book. It took me forever to get thru this..... it was very boring and NO new news. One of the worst books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Boring!
Review: If you have read Katherine Graham's book "Personal History", then save your money and don't buy The Georgetown Ladies. It is almost as though Heymann took the words right out of Grahams Book. It took me forever to get thru this..... it was very boring and NO new news. One of the worst books I've ever read.
Rating: 
Summary: This book needed an editor
Review: It's an interesting story, with a lot of gossip and background on each of the Washington ladies profiled. But it sorely needed a good edit -- there were repetitions and unevenness that a good editor ought to have caught. OK book, but nothing to rave about.
Rating:
Summary: These were not "ladies"
Review: THE GEORGETOWN LADIES' SOCIAL CLUB is a fascinating read.
The title of this book actually was a phrase first coined by then-President Ronald Reagan, according to author C. David Heymann.
Heymann has attempted the unusual: A group biography which interweaves the stories of the different members of one discrete, if informal, group.
Heymann does a good job in exploring the personal histories of the members of this club, a troop which primarily included Katherine Graham, Evangeline Bruce and Pamela Harriman. Of this bunch, only Sally Quinn, the youngest, still is alive.
Heymann offers the standard versions of their lives, but he also dishes some dirt about their affairs, promiscuity and family suicides.
It is amazing how much power these women had yielded over the highest ranking members of the federal government. This power was gently applied during socializing at various festivities which ranged from barbecues to black-tie dinners.
The heyday of the ladies was during the Kennedy administration and, in consequence, THE GEORGETOWN LADIES' SOCIAL CLUB re-acquaints its readers with the Camelot myth.
Perhaps unavoidably, in the effort to be scholarly and thorough, the prose in this volume is less interesting than the women it is describing. To paraphrase an old joke, these were no ladies. Bluntly, they sound like witches, every one of 'em. Yet probably just because of this personality trait, their stories make for an fascinating read.
Rating:
Summary: An unintentional but serious indictment
Review: The point to this review originally was that it's a good book in spite of the fact that it's about trashy women. It's well conceived and excellently executed. Your editing doesn't make that point. >> (...)
If author Heymann is to be believed, the six ladies herein portrayed (Katharine Graham, Lorraine Cooper, Evangeline Bruce, Pamela Harriman and Sally Quinn)were the powers behind the Democratic Party for most of the 20th Century. These women all have the same claim to fame: they married prominent men and exercised power through them or because of them. Given their [adventures invloving sex] and prowess, a much stronger claim could be made about them (...) Although it's not the author's intent, the book gives a good deal of insight into the question, "what happened to ethics and morals in 20th Century America?" One can only call these women "successful" if one considers the acquisition of money and political and social power to be the ultimate in achievement. Frankly, each one of them is a pitiable demonstration of a selfish and wasted life.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous dish and finally Washington as it truly is!
Review: This book portrays the female movers and shakers of Washington DC and reads like a novel. The characters are interconnected and in this highly privileged world, it is clear that money talks. Kay Graham and Pamela Harriman wielded power and achieved something great; lesser known ladies such as Evangeline Bruce and Lorraine Cooper typified the 1960's and 1970's in Washington; Sally Quinn still rules the roost. There is high camp in the chapter profiling the obese wannabe senator's wife, AKA movie actress Liz Taylor. There is mystery, with the death of Mary Pinchot Meyer. What was the role of the CIA in Georgetown? That is an intriguing sidelight in this rarified world. Georgetown Ladies' Social Club is the first social history of Georgetown, the exclusive enclave that controls Washington DC. The writing is crisp and fun to read. I really recommend this book and couldn't put it down.
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