Philistines at the Hedgerow : Passion and Property in the Hamptons

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.