Rating: 
Summary: A torrent of name dropping.
Review: I'm appalled by the torrential name dropping which goes on in this book. It is all the author seems to be capable of doing. Gus Bailey is a gossip columnist, a pathetic form of gutter sniper. But he pretends to be everybody's good old buddy, otherwise no one would contact him anxious to spill the beans. The events surround the O.J. Simpson murder trial, or rather the rich and famous people around and about it. And what a shallow bunch they turn out to be. It is obvious that Dominick Dunne is the Gus Bailey character who strongly believes O.J. to be guilty of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her companion Ronald Goldman. The novel, if it can be called that, is narrated by a third person, but since there is much dialogue, such as, Gus said, "Blah, blah ..." I found it difficult to separate the first person from the third. It is too obvious that Dominick Dunne is the big "I" here. There is much plugging of books written by Gus Bailey, and wouldn't you know it they carry the same titles as those written by Dominick Dunne in real life. Everything is plug or drop throughout this silly book. From time to time Gus says, "This would be a terrific scene in a novel..." or something like "I'll have a character say ..." or "... He's going to be a wonderful character for my novel ..." after he's already described relevant scenes in conversation with one of his many famous characters. Much of this is a device to circumnavigate the fact from fiction problem, but grates when said too often which is the case here. The sheer audacity of the name dropping becomes lengthy and irritating, and the dialogue fails to carry any weight other than to further increase the length of the book. What's more, the corpus becomes bitty and lacks the coherence of continuity. The swath of "names" one stumbles through is enough to choke the mind, it's Kirk Douglas this or Nancy Reagan that or Marcia Clark or Michael Jackson or Hillary Clinton or Barbara Streisand or Warren Beatty or Dustin Hoffman or Sean Connery or Goldie Hawn or Elizabeth Taylor or Heidi Fleiss or Dan Rather or Don Ohlmeyer or Mark Lonsdale or Frank Sinatra or Annette Bening or Kurt Russell or Tom Hanks or Claus von Bülow or Fergie or King Hussein or Queen Noor or Princess Diana, and Andy Cunanan is thrown in for good measure, on and on and on ... Dunne will chisel in a name anywhere. On page 89 "..."Is that the restaurant owned by Michael Jackson's son? I don't mean Elizabeth Taylor's friend Michael Jackson that Johnnie Cochran represented in the child molestation case," said Gus." And on page 159 "... Tina Sinatra, Frank's daughter, was there at another table ..." is a typical example of how the author overdoes it. Why bother to say "Frank's daughter"? It's not necessary and it's redundant. What the novel does show, if it's to be taken in the least bit seriously, is the condition of our society, and in particular that of the rich and famous who are seen to be a shallow bunch of people. They strive to be seen in the court room or at dinners or functions given to discuss the O.J. case. All this to promote themselves. The fact that two people were brutally murdered is shunted to the sidings and the court case comes over as another arm of the entertainment business. Chapter 21 contains a family crisis when Gus's son Zander goes missing while hiking in the Santa Rita Mountains of Arizona. Here is the strongest and most moving writing in the book. Gus is sitting with his crippled ex-wife Peach, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, trying to tell her about their missing son. In doing so Gus covers everything the book has to say and more. He does it well and in a few pages. But despite this outbreak of decent writing Dominick Dunne fails to pull this one off. His writing is contrived and stiff, the dialogue sounds false, and each paragraph is staged simply to slip a name or names into it. Because of it his attempts at being amusing are irritating, and his attempts at being serious fail too because Dunne allows his biased outrage to smother him. At the beginning of the book it is made clear that Gus Bailey is found murdered. Who did it? At the end it is revealed, and comes as no surprise. This is certainly no who "dunne" it. The supposed twist is an unnecessary cheap shot that adds nothing to an already boring book.
Rating: 
Summary: A real page turner and a who's who of celebraties intwined.
Review: Just when you thought you heard it all about OJ. Mr. Dunne's memoirs are terrific. Amazing how many celebraties breeze in an out of his account of the trial. Great tid bits about the trial as well.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greats
Review: Dunne is one of our greatest authors. This one of his finest novels. Nobel alert!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing ending
Review: An avid follower of the Simpson trial and regular monthly reader of Mr. Dunne's contributions to Vanity Fair, I eagerly looked forward to delving into this book, a Christmas gift from a loved one who knew I was eager to read it. Though I enjoyed the many observations offered by "Gus" heretofore not included in prior trial reports by author Dunne, I felt cheated and was thoroughly disappointed with the story's ending. I expected better from Dunne, particularly given the interesting story he wove throughout the earlier portions of the book. Perhaps he ran out of steam when it came to penning the conclusion; it's unfortunate, because up until that point, I would have highly recommended the book to friends and colleagues. Given the ending, however, I would say to others not to waste your time only to experience such isappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Nobel Prize Material
Review: Simply a triumph! Dunne deserves every literary prize there is.
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing. Great surprise ending.
Review: I enjoyed this book and found it to be a real page turner. Was a little disappointed that more of the actual OJ trial was not covered. Dunne spent too much time on celebrity reaction to the trial.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece!
Review: Some authors can break your heart, touch your soul, and change your life forever. Dunne is one of them. Pulitzer Alert!
Rating: 
Summary: What a waste!
Review: "Waste" truly is the only word that comes to mind after reading this name-dropping, sad and quickly exhausted take on the so-called "Trial of the Century." Even if you haven't read this book, you already know about the waste of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman's lives, the waste of God knows how much taxpayer money investigating and prosecuting the case, and ultimately the waste of anyone's hopes that justice (hell, how about rationality and logic?) would prevail. But you don't know waste, at least in literary terms, until you've read this book. Dunne wastes an opportunity to provide the definitive portrait of this trial and its participants--I say definitive because I feel that, with a little effort, he could have placed it squarely in the context of not only the class divisions and celebrity strata of Los Angeles but of this nation. Instead, we are given a half-hearted attempt at what wants to be a postmodern, ironic recollection of the "author" and his experiences at the OJ trial but what is, in actuality, a convoluted--almost laughable--mess. Ultimately, of course, what we have is not a novel about the trial but about Dominick Dunne, a decent writer (I actually like much of his writing in Vanity Fair) who happened to attend the trial. No attempts at creativity or depth, just chapters that drone incessantly on and on about who Dunne (aka Gus Bailey) was seated next to at this party and that function and...well, it's just overkill, lacking in both style and substance (it ultimately fails even as camp--though I did laugh out loud inappropriately at several "serious" moments--due to Dunne's apparent haste to propel the narrative and provide exposition at any cost). And as for the ending (and the recurring character who helps it come about), what could have been a genuinely creepy and unsettling plot device is rendered implausible by the flat, barely-workmanlike prose. I give it a 2 only because of some genuinely interesting bits of information (or at least reliable-sounding gossip) sprinkled among the deadwood. A major disappointment..
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Look at O.J. Trial of the Century
Review: Dunne has captured a different side of the OJ Trial of the Century by taking us into the gossipy, behind-the-scenes action taking place. His honest portrayal of his personal account of being the father of a victim (his daughter) added a new insight to what the families were feeling (especially the Goldmans). I found this to be a very light-hearted and "campy" take on a very serious and heart-wrenching subject. Good for Dunne!
Rating:
Summary: I am, sadly, dissapointed .
Review: I expected "Seasons in Purgatory" at the OJ Trial. The ceaseless name-dropping, while somewhat educational, is more than mildly irrating. Mea culpa . . . I expected more
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