Rating: 
Summary: PLEASE!!
Review: Okay, I am going to settle this myth about Palm Beach. Ronald Kessler has no idea what he is talking about. In fact, nobody in Palm Beach would ever really allow a gossip writer to come in an expose all of our secrets. Its just not done that way. Many rewrites of the chapters were done until they contained little more than what you would hear sitting at a table at Taboo for lunch. Ronald Kessler drops so many names that it seems to become a guestbook for his adventures with the rich and famous. In my opinion, he needs to realize that he was not invited into this society like he thinks he was. Mr. Kessler was given little more than idle gossip to write about and he turned what he learned into a group of stories that sound interesting but have no substance to them. The only way to really know about Palm Beach is to come here and see what goes on. It is just like any other normal American town, only the other towns don't have two bit authors running through the streets with idolized vinettes about wealthy socialites. In other words, DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Vapid Rich People . . . Fawning Author
Review: Ronald Kessler's The Season says it intends to expose the sordid world of wealthy Palm Beach, Florida . . . and it sort of does. But The Season also shows us how a self-proclaimed investigative journalist can reveal things he probably didn't intend to: the sad story of Ronald Kessler's own infatuation with these vapidly boorish people. Kessler spends lots of time salivating over the fabulous possessions and tawdry pastimes of the Palm Beach crowd, making it clear that he's really just a wannabe who thinks these folks are cool. Cool? How can anyone be worthy of sustained interest or respect who spends their entire life partying "for charity" and then only donating a small fraction of the gains from these balls to the actual needy beneficiaries. The rest of the money collected, Kessler asserts, goes to pay for the parties themselves. This book is an amalgam of wandering, sometimes disjointed stories about the RAF (Rich AND Famous) and about Mr. Kessler and his wife getting to hang out with them. Oooooooo, cool. Sort of like the guy in high school with the pocket protector feeling thrilled that the jocks and the cheerleaders "let" him hang out with them. Sure, you can hang out with the In Crowd, so long as you do them a service, which Kessler does for this group by effervescing about their houses, their clothes, their multiple cars, servants, facelifts . . . the list of their accomplishments, darling, is endless. Some things seem to grow more pathetic with time: it's pretty sad to see a late-middle-age, educated man like Kessler still wanting to hang out with the rich kids. And, by the way, these rich kids are especially awful examples of spoiled trust fund babies: anti-Semitic to a fault, tight-fisted, hedonistic, and never seen reading a book or talking about an idea beyond which champagne or caviar is best. One wonders why Mr. Kessler, a Jew himself, wanted to be part of this crowd. But want to he did . . . and he doesn't let the reader forget that he was "close" to these wealthy Palm Beachers for even a page . . . how many pictures do we need to see of Kessler and his wife with Donald Trump? If he really wanted to show his readers what Palm Beachers were "like," Kessler could have written a sustained, professional investigation of their charities, their anti-Semitism and other prejudices, their classism, their childishly indulged sexual and culinary appetites, and their anti-intellectualism? Despite its claims to the contrary, The Season is not an example of high quality investigative journalism, nor of well-crafted prose, for that matter. Of course, Kessler's giving these folks this type of glossy, sycophantic coverage is actually very appropriate and befits their real "importance" . . . to have done otherwise would have been to accord the super-wealthy residents of Palm Beach more respect than they deserve. If you want to read this book, check it out of a library . . . if you've already bought it, use it as a doorstop, although it's kind of light--physically and intellectually--to be of much use against anything other than a little gust of hot air . . . which is exactly what The Season and its subject matter is.
Rating: 
Summary: Author's forum against anti-semitism???
Review: The book was an easy read in that respect it was well written. It flowed well. However, I could not help but to think repeated throughout the book how the author harks on anti-semitism in Palm Beach by the upper class. For example, there is more than enough chapters about how the country clubs exclude Jews, over and over. I am not anti semitic, nor do I support anti semitic views and practices but I think the author mentions this way too much in his book. There is prejudice everywhere but what is so appealing in being a member of "members only" establishment is that it does exclude most. There are more pics of author with the so-called "rich and famous" than the rich and famous themselves! The book, I feel does give some insight into the lives of the inabitants of Palm Beach but not really into the lives of the original inhabitants, the "old guard". The people he interviews all seem to be poseurs trying to fit in and be a part of the "old guard" and even if theydo float on the "fringes" of "society" they don't really seem to be an insider or a real member. His sources are restaurant managers, real estate brokers, waitresses at hotel bars - how many of the old money-ed Palm Beachers would have these types of occupation? I just question how accurately these sources know the real workings of the truly wealthy, old money-ed Palm Beachers since they are not one themselves. All in all, pleasant read but take the information with a grainof salt.
Rating:
Summary: Author's forum against anti-semitism???
Review: The book was an easy read in that respect it was well written. It flowed well. However, I could not help but to think repeated throughout the book how the author harks on anti-semitism in Palm Beach by the upper class. For example, there is more than enough chapters about how the country clubs exclude Jews, over and over. I am not anti semitic, nor do I support anti semitic views and practices but I think the author mentions this way too much in his book. There is prejudice everywhere but what is so appealing in being a member of "members only" establishment is that it does exclude most. There are more pics of author with the so-called "rich and famous" than the rich and famous themselves! The book, I feel does give some insight into the lives of the inabitants of Palm Beach but not really into the lives of the original inhabitants, the "old guard". The people he interviews all seem to be poseurs trying to fit in and be a part of the "old guard" and even if theydo float on the "fringes" of "society" they don't really seem to be an insider or a real member. His sources are restaurant managers, real estate brokers, waitresses at hotel bars - how many of the old money-ed Palm Beachers would have these types of occupation? I just question how accurately these sources know the real workings of the truly wealthy, old money-ed Palm Beachers since they are not one themselves. All in all, pleasant read but take the information with a grainof salt.
Rating:
Summary: It was just okay....
Review: This book was really really inaccurate. The author name-drops about flying with Donald Trump, going to a socialite's home and seeing the list of the season's "PEOPLE" to be with. I mean, the book was just alright, but it wasn't anything to be impressed with, and seeing as I am from Palm Beach, there is nothing here that I didn't aready know. The book had some very boring parts, but it doesn't give an accurate account of what goes on here, and it could never be written in a book. It's too complicated to understand, and he skips around from person to person. All in all, save it for a vdery rainy day.
Rating: 
Summary: Palm Beach from a Narrow Perspective
Review: This is not a very accurate portrayal of Palm Beach as a whole. Kessler focuses primarily on the lives of five people and then throws in some other stories to give the book some length. The content of the book is very scattered. Many times I was left wondering where this guy was going. I personally know that some of Kessler's information is factual, which was a delight to see in print, but some of it I strongly questioned (as have many Palm Beachers). He could have uncovered some great stories if only he had done a little more research. It was worth a few laughs anyway.
Rating:
Summary: The disappointing "Season"
Review: Upon picking up this book, I thought I would learn about the interesting and extravagant lives of the rich and famous of Palm Beach. Kessler gets you interested in the characters, but I could do with out the jumping chapters. What struck me most about the book is Kessler's continual coverage of the prejudice against Jews in Palm Beach society. Although mention of this subject is important, I did not appreciate it being shoved down the reader's throat. Kessler uses the book as his soapbox for this subject. If kessler wanted to write about bigotry in Palm Beach, he should have given the book a more explicit title, letting the reader know that Prejudice against Jews is this books main objective.
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