Customer Reviews

Elements of Style: A Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

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.

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.

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?

Sure, Wendy Wasserstein's novel has some of the minor flaws of her plays -- over-credentialed characters and heavy exposition -- but "Elements of Style" draws such strong, vivid characters against the backdrop of unabashed, post-9/11 greed that you'll be drawn in almost immediately. At the top of the list is Frankie Weissman, pediatrician to rich and poor alike, whose position as an outsider, her compassion, her struggles with her declining father and her palpable lonliness give the book its backbone. Then there's the sleek, annoying Samantha Acton, whose seat at the pinnacle of the elite is endangered by her impulsive affair with Barry Santorini, a brasher-than-brash movie producer. The plot, the parties and the people move from outrageousness to tragedy like rocks skipping on the surface of a lake. And hanging above it all is the reader's knowledge that author Wasserstein died before her book was published. The novel serves as a capstone of the playwright and novelist's career of chronicling uncommon women.

Please do not read this book! You can find something else to spend your time and money on! I read the whole thing (kept hoping it would get better...) despite that fact that by halfway I was wondering, "What is the point here?"

The fact is, there never is a point and nothing important ever happens... except a terrorist bombing to a Manhatten Starbucks that comes out of nowhere and includes some very graphic and unnecessary gross descriptions of death and injuries. Could not feel the least bit sympathetic to any character no matter what her problem was and the mention of one socialite spending $10,000 on desiger duds for her young daughters just made me want to lose my lunch. This book is BORING and I'm still not sure if the author was trying to make us like or hate these people.

First off, there will be spoilers so if you want to read this book and don't like to know anything before you read it (like me) then don't read on!

What was this? I love Wendy Wasserstein as a playwright. I couldn't wait to read this book! I thought that it would be a witty satire on New York's "finest" (not the firefighters, the Upper East Siders) after 9/11. I was sorely mistaken.

The first few chapters are delightful and engaging, but soon, you long for the book to go somewhere... 307 pages later you shut the book realizing that it never did!

The political agenda being pushed was nauseating. I daresay it bordered on propaganda!

I liked not one character in this entire book- not one. At the beginning I thought that this was so that Ms Wasserstein would make a point later... SHE NEVER DID.

You can tell Wendy was an excellent playwright from the vivid descriptions of scene. It was written very visually.

I hate to say it, but this book's critical acclaim comes only from Ms Wasserstein's previous success as a playwright and her untimely death. Had she lived she would have discovered that she most certainly wasn't a novelist and should have spent her time writing what she is truly genious at- plays.

This is an easy and gossipy kind of read and is well written, but one would expect more from Wendy Wasserstein. None of the characters seem to be fully developed, and only Frankie is really ultimately likeable. The end seemed rushed and incomplete, as it is for the author.

Despite its lukewarm reviews, I actually enjoyed this book very much. "Elements of Style" is author Wendy Wasserstein's last novel, and it revolves around high-society life in New York City. The story begins shortly after September 11, 2001, and follows the intertwined lives of Manhattan's hottest socialites. There's Judy Tremont, whose sole purpose in life is climbing the social ladder and buddying up to people like Samantha Acton and her husband, Charlie, who are New York City's current "It" couple. Then there are the Satorinis: The obnoxious, self-righteous Barry, an Oscar-winning movie producer, and his wife, Clarice, who has made a career out of catering to her husband's every desire. Then there's Dr. Frankie Weissman, the Upper East Side's top ranked pediatrician who sort of stumbles into the disastrous world of high society life and has a hard time escaping it.

Other reviewers have blasted "Elements of Style" for its lack of redeeming characters and lackluster plot. However, Wasserstein was a brilliant writer, and this book is obviously a satire intended to highlight those exact criticisms. With the possible exception of Frankie, all of the characters in the book are basically horrible people who are incredibly self-absorbed and suffer from severe cases of self-entitlement. "Elements of Style" is a hilarious glimpse into the lives of depressing people who foolishly think money can buy them anything, but in reality, it often leaves them with nothing at all.

Elements of Style is Wendy Wasserstein's posthumous work. And while she shows the wit, sense of humor and intelligence that made her such a successful and remarkable playwright, Wasserstein made the sad decision to populate her novel with the most boring and vapid of characters. Other than Frankie, a down to earth and somewhat lonely pediatrician (who seems to be Wasserstein's alter ego and who's the only interesting character in the whole novel), the people in this book might well be summed up under the title Elements of Dull.

Sure, they've got plenty of money, several houses, and expensive art, but there's nothing about them that's even remotely interesting. I have very good memory but I kept forgetting who was who, and having to go back to see whether A was the blonde socialite or the brunette one. After several of these episodes, I realized it didn't matter much: socialite A was as boring as socialite B, who was as dull as socialite C, etc.

This upper-crust world is one that Wasserstein knew well, thanks to her own success and, I imagine, through her tycoon brother Bruce. Yet it's a shame that for her last work, Wasserstein didn't choose a setting and people that were more interesting and worthy of her significant talents.

I really wanted to like this book and was looking for a little fun. What I got instead was a book loaded with unlikeable characters and not much of a story until about halfway through the book.

The book focuses on a circle of friends in NY's upper class. According to the summaries that I've read, it appeared that the novel centered around Dr. Frankie Weissman, pediatrician to the rich (and not so rich) and famous. While the story does begin in Dr. Weissman's office and all of the main characters are connected because they are all patients of hers (or their children are I should say), Frankie isn't featured any more than any of the other major characters. This is a bit of a disappointment as she is the most grounded, liakable character, with the most realistic life and problems (a father succumbing to Alzheimer's, a love/hate relationship w/her step-mother, unlucky in love/unable to find "Mr. Right", etc.).

There are quite a few characters and it takes a while to get them all down (I was almost finished with the book before I knew the difference between Pippa Rose and Adrienne Strong-Rodman!) And don't even try to figure out who's married to who - it's not really necessary anyhow, as the story is mainly centered around the women, except for movie legend Barry and poor Charlie (who, for a short period of time, was almost as liakable as Frankie!). These are the only men who have major roles in this story, in addition to everyone's best "gay" friend Jil! As you can tell, there's a lot going on here.

The first half of the book is more of an introduction and how-do-you-do of all the major players, and there isn't much of a storyline until about halfway through the book. One event between two of the characters seems to have a domino effect on the rest of them, and it's a little interesting to see how personalities change and the opportunities that present themselves as the result of this turn of events.

The name-dropping, celebrity sightings and "straight-from-the-runway" fashions are all in good fun, but the caddiness and gossiping starts to grow old after a while with some of the characters becoming downright mean. The nastiness and backstabbing seems to take over about 3/4 of the way through the book with nearly everyone out to hurt someone. A little meaness can be fun, but I thought some of these characters got carried away and it wasn't what I'd call an enjoyable read.

Most of the reviews that I've read point out the fact that the story is taking place soon after 9/11 and how the events of that day had an impact on the lives of these characters and that their lives were forever changes. I found some of the references to 9/11 true-to-life, while others I thought were just a little extreme. Of course, I don't live in NY and did not witness firsthand some of the extremes that people went to in order to protect those they loved. I did think some of the extremes that these characters went to and accusations that they made were a little too harsh (considering we're still at war).

Descriptions are excellent, and feelings are put into words nicely. But unfortunately, without likable characters and a pointless story, what's the point in reading a book? The characters seem to come full circle by the end of the book, and I think readers are supposed to believe that some of them may have learned something, but unfortunately, I didn't get that feeling and thought most of them were just as shallow, if not more so, than they were in the beginning of the book.

I'm sorry that this is the first and last novel we'll ever have from Wendy Wasserstein - I'm sure she could have produced some beautiful, meaningfull pieces of fiction. It's too bad that this was her final piece of her work and that there's no possibility to see an improvement.

It was interesting read, and it kept me coming back (I wanted to finish the book and see what happened), but once I finished with it, I kinda felt like I had wasted my time which isn't the type of feeling most authors want to leave their readers with once they finish their novels.