Elements of Style: A Novel [Paperback]

Wendy Wasserstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2007

Elements of Style, the Pulitzer Prize—winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein’s first novel, is a scathing comedy about New York's high society facing the post—9/11 world. Francesca Weissman, an Upper East Side pediatrician rated number one by Manhattan magazine, floats on the fringes of the upper strata of privilege and aspiration. Through her bemused eyes we meet the thoroughbred socialite Samantha Acton; relentless social climber Judy Tremont; Barry Santorini, an Oscar-winning moviemaker accustomed to having his way; his supermarket heiress wife, Clarice; and more, tossed together in a frothy stew of outrageous conspicuous consumption and adulterous affairs that play out on Page Six. But when Wasserstein’s madcap tour of the social lives and mores of twenty-first-century Manhattan veers into tragedy, we finally see the true cost of her characters’ choices, and the beating heart of this dazzling novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the classic primer that Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Wasserstein (The Heidi Chronicles) names her dishy first novel after, Strunk & White note, "Style not only reveals the spirit of the man but reveals his identity." Wasserstein tries to apply that aphorism to Manhattan's wealthy elite shortly after 9/11. Upper East Side pediatrician Francesca "Frankie" Weissman doesn't have quite as much disposable income as the Manolo moms and Bonpoint babies that frequent her office. She's drawn into the city's circles of old and new money, including those of blue-blooded Samantha Acton; reinvented Californian Judy Tremont; and self-made film mogul Barry Santorini, son of a South Philly cobbler. As mothers stockpile Cipro and gas masks after 9/11, none of them stops believing that "life could be controlled if only you had the right resources." As the question of how, when and with whom Frankie will couple narrows, the novel hits a disconcerting number of false notes: points of view shift with jarring speed, a bathetic account of a suicide bombing rankles and it is hard to care much about characters who utter such lines as "That's love, babe. You always have to give 200 percent." But Wasserstein gets the trappings and tribulations (of friendship and of romance) right, making her depiction of the rich and fab trying to connect with one another witty and entertaining. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Young women, in particular, will revel in this tongue-in-cheek, thoroughly satirical depiction of post-9/11 New York society. Wasserstein's skill as a playwright is evident through the witty dialogue and farcical situations she used to create her deeply shallow, largely revolting characters. Inane values, a terrorist bombing, an accidental death, and a debilitating illness compose the dark elements of the novel, initially obscured by the author's light writing style. Our mutual vulnerability to these situations, she reminds readers, is beyond what money, power, and beauty can control. Society pediatrician Frankie Weissman, a compassionate and selfless individual, provides the perfect foil for the thoroughly unlikable primary characters. Frankie is Wasserstein's hero. Perhaps she is Wasserstein herself. This novel is about recognizing what is and who are worth loving.–Claudia C. Holland, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400076870
• ISBN-13: 978-1400076871
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't quite live up to its potential, May 15, 2006

By 

Gregory Baird (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elements of Style (Hardcover)

Halfway through Wendy Wasserstein's first and last novel a character remarks that something that happened to him was "like an obvious movie with a basic plot point. I'd fire a writer who came up with s*** like that." Wasserstein's clever, tongue-in-cheek poke at her own standard plotting and reliance on formula aside, that statement becomes all too true of "Elements of Style." She sets the novel up as a social satire of Manhattan's wealthy elite -- nouveau and otherwise, but the first half of the book has no more to say about society and shallowness than you would find in a Jackie Collins escapade (think of it as "Hollywood Wives" for the Manhattan set), a true disappointment for a novel with such a high pedigree and an obviously capable writer. You know exactly where the story is heading, and up to the novel's second half it will dully adhere to those predictions. Then, in a nod to post-9/11 anxiety and, one suspects, to Wasserstein's terrible illness, the story is deluged with random-acts-of-plotting to shake things up. There's an explosion, a cancer diagnosis, some break-ups and, most shocking of all, more than one death to be dealt with. But it comes too little, too late for the reader -- who has already lost interest in Wasserstein's paper-thin characters and begun to be more and more annoyed by them. I would guess that Wasserstein, in the throes of her own mortality, wanted to show the randomness of life's cruelties and that no one, no matter how rich, can buy off disaster or unhappiness. The intention almost rescues the novel, but gets bogged down in the irrelevance that Wasserstein treats the new developments with. By the book's end everyone has gone back to living the life that they were leading on page one. There is no growth, no development or improvement in a single one of the characters. She does, actually, make a good statement about the minor character of Jil and how, to him, style created content in his quest to put up the perfect front to the world and hide who he really was, but since no one takes that message to heart the reader is left wondering why she even bothered getting it in there. Perhaps Wasserstein was making a pessimistic prediction for the social-climbing set in the post-9/11 world, but by the conclusion of "Elements of Style" it has become too bothersome to care.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Breezy Light Read That Hits The Nail On The Head, July 23, 2006

By 

SKW "Mystery Maniac" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Style (Hardcover)

As one of the other reviewer's said -- "I liked it, but didn't love it." However, it is a near perfect characterization of upper crust New Yorkers. I felt it had a Gatsby-like thread in that the two few ordinary folks (Jil, Frankie, Judy and Charlie) are profoundly affected by the goings on of the rich and famous. The main difference is that unlike the poor Gatsby characters whose lives are ruined, Wasserstein's ordinary folks roll with the punches and are too cynical to be hurt by the elite class.

As for 9/11, I live and work in Manhattan and saw the Towers be attacked and fall, firsthand. Many friends and associates were lost that day. I lived through the sad, sad days and weeks afterwards. Beyond a mention of 9/11 here or there, this book could have taken place in the go go 80's or 90's. The book revealed none of the real 9/11 pathos that truly existed in the city.

Still, it's a fun romp through one of the greatest cities in the world.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Summer Fluff, August 10, 2006

By 

A. Vegan (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Style (Hardcover)

The colorful cast of characters includes style-setting Samantha, who suffers from self-esteem issues; Judy, a carb-abstaining gossip, whose social machinations make up a full-time job; and Clarice, who lists among her accomplishments the keeping of a steady supply of her husband's favorite English muffins at each of their four homes. The more narcissistic characters are balanced by Frankie Weissman, the down-to-earth pediatrician who treats the children of the rich and famous but is not affected by their excessive lifestyles. Chock-full of shopping, mansions, spa treatments, and fine dining, it is a sensuous read, but Wasserstein's ironic perspective saves it from being merely decadent.
Perhaps you just have to be a New Yorker to really appreciate this book though I think you could apply the personalities of Ms. Wassterstein's characters to people in any city. It was a very easy read, but quite predictable for the most part I thought. I was amazed that in a circle of people in NY immidiately post 9/11 there was no mention of any loss in the terrorist attacks. Not that I would have wanted her to dwell on that, but there were 8 or 9 central characters and no mention of a loss at all?