Rating: 
Summary: Pun certainly intended
Review: "Cross Dressing" isn't what you think. The pun is an example of how clever and fun Bill Fitzhugh can write. I have all his books and think the first editions are quite collectable, he is going places.
Rating:
Summary: Pun certainly intended
Review: "Cross Dressing" isn't what you think. The pun is an example of how clever and fun Bill Fitzhugh can write. I have all his books and think the first editions are quite collectable, he is going places.
Rating:
Summary: Fitzhugh Is On a Roll
Review: After defying the sophomore slump with the excellent "The Organ Grinders," his follow-up to the hysterical "Pest Control," Bill Fitzhugh has established a bona fide winning streak with "Cross Dressing." It's mood inhabits a middle ground between the first two books--more emotional depth than "Pest," not as intense as "Grinders"--but is no less hilarious. His characters are, as always, instantly recognizable and relatable (if that's a word), and he accurately and fairly skewers both the media and the Catholic Church (and I know from where I speak--I'm a practicing Catholic who works in the media!). If you enjoy a very funny and (this is key with Fitzhugh) very VISUAL read, by all means read this book and everything else he's written or has yet to write.
Rating:
Summary: A return to excellence
Review: After reading Pest Control, I picked up Organ Grinders and hated it. This book was a triumphant return to the style of writing and humor that made Pest Control such a great book. The character development is excellent. At the beginning of the novel, Dan Steele, the main character is a prototypical yuppie executive whose thirst for material possessions exceeds all other desires in his life. By the end, he cares about his fellow man and not as much about how many toys he can amass. The aspect of the novel that really shines, though, is how Fitzhugh portrays the residents of the Care Center. While most authors might stereotype the elderly as cranky old codgers, Fitzhugh portrays them as the people who society forgot and who are desperately trying to cling to the Care Center, the last meaningful thing in their lives. While the ending seems kind of rushed, it is satisfying. This novel is a return to the style of Pest Control, and is all the better for it.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not bad . . . . but that's it
Review: Alas, to describe this book using a baseball metaphor would have it described as a popup single. Some of the situations are funny, but there's a lot of prose in between. Sorry, folks.
Rating: 
Summary: Holy Satire with Fun Results
Review: Bill Fitzhugh will make fun of anything. Whether it's the smarmy world of organ transplants, the political system, industry, technology, and even pest control, and Cross Dressing isn't any different, except this time his target is slightly higher. Fitzhugh tackles another controversial subject with his satirical spanking of organized religion. Dan Steele is a bit of a jerk. He lives the life of a highly paid and successful ad exec, except he's run out of ideas. But that's not a problem when you can just steal one. Dan's twin brother is a priest, but a priest with his own problems, and they are literally eating away at him from the inside. When Dan's brother needs medical attention and is lacking medical insurance, the ethically challenge Dan has no problems switching identities. The his brother dies, and takes Dan's identity with him. Now having to take over his brother's more saintly life, which holds it's own secrets, leads Dan into the path of hitman, disgruntled former coworkers and a very attractive nun, also with secrets. Where would good fiction be without secrets?
So once again Fitzhugh handles a touchy subject with humor and disrespect. If you are highly sensitive about the reputation of the Catholic Church, this may not be you best bet. If you could look past this little problem, this is a crazy, fun book with lots of twisty, turny fun that only this master of satire can write.
Rating:
Summary: Holy Satire with Fun Results
Review: Bill Fitzhugh will make fun of anything. Whether it's the smarmy world of organ transplants, the political system, industry, technology, and even pest control, and Cross Dressing isn't any different, except this time his target is slightly higher. Fitzhugh tackles another controversial subject with his satirical spanking of organized religion. Dan Steele is a bit of a jerk. He lives the life of a highly paid and successful ad exec, except he's run out of ideas. But that's not a problem when you can just steal one. Dan's twin brother is a priest, but a priest with his own problems, and they are literally eating away at him from the inside. When Dan's brother needs medical attention and is lacking medical insurance, the ethically challenge Dan has no problems switching identities. The his brother dies, and takes Dan's identity with him. Now having to take over his brother's more saintly life, which holds it's own secrets, leads Dan into the path of hitman, disgruntled former coworkers and a very attractive nun, also with secrets. Where would good fiction be without secrets?
So once again Fitzhugh handles a touchy subject with humor and disrespect. If you are highly sensitive about the reputation of the Catholic Church, this may not be you best bet. If you could look past this little problem, this is a crazy, fun book with lots of twisty, turny fun that only this master of satire can write.
Rating:
Summary: Fitzhugh does it again!
Review: Cross Dressing starts out with a somewhat-absurd premise. Fortunately, it just gets crazier from there. Religion, charity, advertising--it's all fair game for Bill Fitzhugh's inspired skewering. Almost no one is what they seem in this one, and this reader is very, very grateful.He's been compared to Carl Hiassen and Tim Sandlin, but if you like Cross Dressing, the best thing you can do is read Fitzhugh's first two books, Pest Control and The Organ Grinders. I can't wait to read whatever comes next. Did I mention how much I enjoy the products of the Seagram's Company?
Rating:
Summary: Cross Dressing
Review: Entertaining, funny, fastpaced. Ad agency hot shot, Dan, lends his priest twin brother, Michael, his wallet and insurance card so the priest can get medical treatment. Big glitch occurs when the priest dies and everyone thinks it's Dan who has passed away. Dan is not a likeable character and so far has no redeeming qualities with the exception he has paid for his Mom's (diagnosed as bipolar) treatment and nursing home care for years, in spite of her various hilarious and costly escapades. Actually, he is a really nasty guy who doesn't hesitate to steal a hit advertising idea from an underling so he can get all the credit and money. Now, to avoid being prosecuted for insurance fraud, Dan must pretend to be Father Michael for the next 7 years. In the mix is a nun with a shady past and a bulldog type insurance investigator.
Rating: 
Summary: Very funny--demerits for cheap shots
Review: I absolutely love Bill F's stuff, and this one is no exception. Plenty of laugh-out-loud action and a broad sweep satirizing all kinds of tempting targets. The cross-dressing idea (i.e. one guy dies and the survivor "loses" his life) is brilliant. This one would easily get 5 stars from me if it weren't for two shortcomings: I would have prefered a more respectful treatment of other's beliefs (particularly the Catholic church). Satire is one things, disrespect is another (btw, I am not, nor do I desire to be, a Catholic)--cheap shots are just that. Secondly, the book's editorializing on this subject did at times descend into preaching and amateur theologizing. That I could have done without. My misgivings aside, I got plenty of great laughs in. Stripped of ideological baggage and treated as a light read, this still earns the book a favorable rating!
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